For many architectural styles the street fence is a discreet piece within the architectural assembly, purposefully minimised in order to not obscure or compete with the design of the building that it fences behind. That is not the case with the Neo-Romanian style, where in most cases the street fence is very conspicuous and noticeable for the observer on the street, announcing the flamboyance and massivity of the architecture of the house that it hedges within. The Neo-Romanian style fences are remarkable because of their heavyweight appearance, modelling the aspect of a medieval citadel walls and harrow gates (portcullis), where the fence posts resemble massive Byzantine church towers or those of the cula fortified houses peculiar to the Oltenia region of south western Romania. In some cases the fence poles echo even the Ottoman Islamic tomb stones, an allusion to the old triumphant epic battles that took place in this erstwhile frontier region of Europe between the local Christian princes (like Vlad the Impaler or Stephen the Great in the c16th) and the mighty Islamic forces of the then Ottoman Empire. The photograph above presents one such eloquent Neo-Romanian style street fence, which I recently found in an upmarket area of Bucharest (Victoriei).
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I endeavor through this series of daily 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 