Mavros Cantacuzino’s Palace

Near our village you will find the ruins of the Roman Catholic chapel of the Boyar Court Assembly Mavros Cantacuzino. Next to this chapel is a beautiful tomb of Maria Sutu (Cantacuzino, born in 1848 in Magureni, as written on her tomb), created in 1878 by the great Russian sculptor Mark Antokolski in Paris. The statue, entitled "Girl Bandaging a Wounded Man," now in an advanced state of disrepair, impresses with realism. Next to this tomb is the tomb of Mihai C. Sutu, the first Governor of the National Bank of Romania, member of the Romanian Academy, the grandson of Mihai Sutu, the Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia and the son of the former Constantin Sutu Minister of Finance and Maria Sutu.

To the left of the ruins of the chapel was the tomb of Ioan C Cantacuzino Magureanu, descendant of the Cantacuzino branch of Magureni, a grandson of the fourth generation after Draghici Cantacuzino. Ioan C Cantacuzino was one of the possible candidates for a reign in 1859. After the Small Union, Cantacuzino held various positions in the executive branch of the Romanian country: Minister of Cults and Education, Minister of Justice, President of the Court of Cassation.

Nearby is also the grave of Maria Mavros Cantacuzino (wife of Ioan C Cantacuzino), the daughter of the estate builder Nicolae Mavros.

Ioan C Cantacuzino and Maria Mavros Cantacuzino are the parents of Professor Ion Cantacuzino, a physician and microbiologist, founder of the Romanian School of Immunology and Experimental Pathology, who has contributed significantly to the eradication of diseases such as cholera, scarlet fever or rash. Ion Cantacuzino is the founder of today’s Cantacuzino Institute, where he lies buried.

Thanks to Ioan Cantacuzino, Romania is the second country in the world after France to introduce a prophylactic BCG vaccine against tuberculosis in newborns. When the Romanian troops were contaminated with cholera in 1913, Professor Cantacuzino was responsible for stopping the epidemic. Therefore, he has created a remedy against cholera to save the Romanian army in a very unstable time for the Kingdom of Romania.

Currently, the former mansion works as a neuropsychiatric hospital. The mansion was built in 1821-1825 by General Nicolae Mavros (Councilor of the Russian Tsars) and handed over to his daughter Maria. It is said that in this villa Nicolae Balcescu would have found shelter in the revolution of 1848.

The Roman Catholic chapel is located in the villa park. It was built by Nicholas Mavros and dates from the years 1840 to 1842, but unfortunately today is badly damaged and almost destroyed.

 

On the way to the ruins of the Mavros Cantacuzino Palace you can visit the ruins of the Draghici Cantacuzino Palace and the Magureni Church

  • com. Floresti Sat. Calinesti, cod postal 107255 jud. Prahova
  • 45.016385, 25.780825
  • 6.9 km
  • 10 minutes