- Journal of Balkan and Black Sea Studies
- Issue: 2
- L’Architecte de la plus grande mosquee de Roumanie : Victor G. Ștephănescu
L’Architecte de la plus grande mosquee de Roumanie : Victor G. Ștephănescu
Authors : Mihai Sorin RĂDULESCU
Pages : 123-139
View : 12 | Download : 3
Publication Date : 2019-06-30
Article Type : Research
Abstract :The biggest and most representative mosque in Romania has been for over a century the "Carol I” Mosque of Constan ț a (Küstendge), built in 1910 after the project of the architect Victor G. Ș teph ă nescu (1876 – 1950), of Bucharest. Son of composer George Ș teph ă nescu (1843 – 1925), founder of the Romanian National Opera, and of his first wife, Caliopi Petrescu, sister of the father of the diplomat Nicolae Petrescu – Comnen, Victor G. Ș teph ă nescu was one of Romania’s most prolific architects before the First World War and during the Interwar Period. He was a member of the second generation of architects – after that of great architect Ion MIncu - of the "Neo-Romanian” current, a sort of Revival style of the medieval architecture of the Danubian Principalities. Among the numerous buildings he planned in Bucharest and in other towns of the kingdom of Romania, there should be mentioned some buildings in the Carol Park in Bucharest (1906), the Geological Institute also in the capital city, the Coronation Cathedral in Alba Iulia, the Anglican Church in Bucharest and many others. The "Carol I” Mosque in Constan ț a, situated in the center of the town, the capital of the Dobrudja, is a genuine architectural accomplishment and a proof of Romania’s openness, at that time, to all religions and ethnical groups.Keywords : Romanian composer George Ștephănescu, diplomat Nicolae Petrescu – Comnen, Romanian National Opera, „Carol I” Mosque in Constanța (Küstendge, Romania), „Neo-Romanian” style, Carol park in Bucharest, Cathedral of the Coronation in Alba Iulia (Romania)