Văcăreşti, Bucharest

Văcăreşti is a neighbourhood in south-eastern Bucharest, located near Dâmboviţa River and the Văcăreşti Lake. Nearby neighbourhoods include Vitan, Olteniţei and Berceni. Originally a village, it was included in Bucharest as it expanded. Its name is related to the Wallachian aristocratic family of the 'Văcăreşti', with an etymology leading back to the Romanian "văcar", "cow-herder" and the suffix -eşti.

The Monastery and quarter

The Văcăreşti Monastery, built by Nicholas Mavrocordatos in 1716, was located on the Văcăreşti hill, nowadays near Piaţa Sudului, but it was demolished in 1984 during the regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu, to make room for a Palace of Justice that was never built. It was the largest 18th century monastery in Southeastern Europe and it had a church in the style of Curtea de Argeş Cathedral. It was designed to be also used as a fortress, being seized by the Russian army, under commander Nicholas Repnin, in May 1771 (in the context of the Russo-Turkish War and Pârvu Cantacuzino's rebellion).

Part of the buildings of monastery were used as prison. Inmates that were incarcerated at Văcăreşti Prison include Tudor Arghezi, Ioan Slavici, as well as Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and other members of the Iron Guard. The nearby hill was home to Arghezi's long-time residence, the house he nicknamed "Mărţişor" (nowadays a museum).

Jewish history

In the 19th century, many Jewish immigrants settled in Văcăreşti, most of them coming from Imperial Russia. Văcăreşti and Dudeşti were the areas where the poorest Jews settled. On 21 January 1941, the fascist Iron Guard started its coup against Ion Antonescu, with whom they had shared government power since September ("see Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest Pogrom"). The Iron Guard "legionnaires" killed 125 Jews, including in Văcăreşti and Dudeşti. On 24 January 1941 Ion Antonescu suppressed the rebellion and the Iron Guard was banned and the members arrested.

Almost all the Jews emigrated to the newly-created state of Israel after World War II. Văcăreşti was one of the quarters that was completely torn down by Ceauşescu and nowadays few traces of the old quarters remain.

Văcăreşti Lake

In the 1980s, Ceauşescu wanted to build a large amusement park (3 km²), demolishing a large part of the houses in the area and making place for a lake with a concrete bottom. However, it was never completed and it still remains barren as of 2006.

In 2002, 1.83 km² of the terrain were given for 49 years to a company owned by Australian citizen Tony Mikhael that wanted to invest €650 million and build some residential areas as well as a golf course, a hippodrome, a hotel and some clubs. The terrain itself is estimated to worth about €500 million, as the land costs in the area around €300/m². "Săptămâna Financiară" argued that the concession of the terrain was illegal and that the Romanian state only gets around €0.28/m².

Further reading

*Gheorghe Leahu. "Demolarea Mânăstirii Văcăreşti" ("Demolition of the Văcăreşti Monastery"), (1997) Bucureşti, Arta Grafică
*Anania, Lidia; Luminea, Cecilia; Melinte, Livia; Prosan, Ana-Nina; Stoica, Lucia; and Ionescu-Ghinea, Neculai, "Bisericile osândite de Ceauşescu. Bucureşti 1977–1989" (1995). Editura Anastasia, Bucharest, ISBN 9739714544. In Romanian. Title means "Churches doomed by Ceauşescu". p. 171–186 is about the Văcăreşti Monastery, including extensive photographs and architectural drawings.

References

* [http://stiri.acasa.ro/11325.html "Proiectul Văcăreşti, dezgropat în 2005"] , "Evenimentul Zilei, 13 January 2005
*"Obuz pesedist în tunul alianţei - Afacerea Văcăreşti", "Săptămâna Financiară", no. 48, 13 February 2006 p.1, 5