Iulia Hasdeu Museum/Castle

The Iulia Hasdeu Castle in Campina is also known as the "Temple of Spirit", where the piano plays alone and the voice of Iulia is heard from time to time and where in some mornings the carpets are found folded and feathers fallen from gala hats, as after a dancing evening .

The writer and historian Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu built this castle between 1893 and 1896 in the memory of his daughter, Iulia Hasdeu. This was the refuge of Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu after his daughter's premature death. The purpose of this place was to facilitate the father's communication with his daughter through the spiritism sessions that took place in this location.

Iulia Hasdeu was an early child, at two years of age she could read, at four years she could write, at the age of five she composed her first poems, at the age of eight passed the primary school examinations and at eleven she finished the Saint Sava high school in Bucharest. At sixteen Iulia enrolled at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at Sorbonne University, the first Romanian student to study at the Sorbonne. Unfortunately, at age eighteen she contracted tuberculosis and at age nineteen (in 1888) she died. At age 20, Iulia Hasdeu would have been the first woman with a Ph.d to come out of the Faculty of Letters of the Sorbonne University in Paris.

Being greatly affected by the disappearance of his daughter, Hasdeu found his refuge in spiritism, hoping to keep in touch with his daughter and communicate with the world beyond. All occult meetings were described by Hasdeu in a diary that he held between 1890 and 1913, during which time 101 transcripts of spiritism sessions were preserved. According to these writings, Iulia spoke about the house and gave her father advice on different situations in his life. According to his accounts, the castle’s building plans would have been passed on by his daughter’s spirit after such a meeting.

The building is structured from 3 stone towers in which a temple is also housed. Inside the castle there are many symbolic elements (mirrors, paintings, sculptures), which are said to have been asked by the spirit of Iulia Hasdeu.

Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu spent the last ten years of his life in the Castle, this temple designed to support the father’s spiritual relationship with his daughter.

On the way to the Iulia Hasdeu Museum you can visit the ruins of the Mavros Cantacuzino Palace, the Magureni Church, the ruins of the Draghici Cantacuzino Palace, the Ruins of Lady Stanca's Princely Court and the Memorial House Nicolae Grigorescu

  • Bulevadrul Carol I, nr 199, Campina, Jud. Prahova
  • 45.135833, 25.727460
  • 17.4 km
  • 22 minutes
  • 0244 335 599