The ironwork decorative outline of the basic street fence element, shown in the lower left hand side corner of the photomontage above, is formed by textbook Neo-Romanian motifs, inspired from the Byzantine and Ottoman church/ mosque decoration register. The shape of the massive fence posts resembles Ottoman cemetery tombstones. The street fence represents a major architectural component within the assembly of a Neo-Romanian style house, often made from high quality materials by the skilled craftsmen from the inter-war period, a fact which explains the high rate of survival over the ensuing tumultuous decades of many such fine examples in a quite unscathed state.
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I endeavor through this daily series of images and small articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural history and heritage.
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If you plan acquiring a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing the property, specialist research, planning permissions, restoration project management, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 