Argeș

Drugănescu Kula

Cula_Druganescu-Retevoiesti_AG-01.JPG Cula_Druganescu-Retevoiesti_AG-02.JPG Cula_Druganescu-Retevoiesti_AG-03.JPG Cula_Druganescu-Retevoiesti_AG-04.JPG Cula_Druganescu-Retevoiesti_AG-05_1965.JPG Cula_Druganescu-Retevoiesti_AG-06_1965.JPG Cula_Druganescu-Retevoiesti_AG-07_1965.JPG Cula_Druganescu-Retevoiesti_AG-08_1965.JPG
  • LMI (Historical Monument List) Code: AG-II-m-B-13777.01
  • Location:

    Within the Drugănescu Estate, 616 Retevoieşti village, district Pietroşani, Argeş county

  • Access:

    Down the 73C Road, Câmpulung - Curtea de Argeş, in the village of Domneşti, there is a signpost to Retevoieşti, at about 8 Km. Or, from the 73 Piteşti – Câmpulung road, on the left to Domneşti, at around 38 km from Piteşti.

  • References:

    This is not a public building.

  • Original/current function: fortified dwelling of the kula type/ out of use, abandoned
  • Date: 1822
  • History:

    At the beginning of the 18th century, the owners of the Retevoieşti estate were the Drugănescu boyars. That is where the kula was built in 1822 by tax collector Gheorghe Drugănescu, delegate of the Muscel county, as he is mentioned in the stone lintel above the entrance into the kula, on the Southern side. Stone mason Gheorghe Ghinea from Vâlsăneşti built this kula. He had also built „the Holy Trinity” church in 1795, commissioned by the great chamberlain Scarlat Drugănescu. Although it was restored in 1965-1966, at present the kula is in a state of collapse.

  • Description:

    The kula has a compact, square plane. It has three floors: the upper levels are accessed through the ground floor by stairs that are sided by two rooms. The cellar has a separate access door, opposite the entrance. The cellar is covered with barrel vaults. The actual quarters of the kula are located on the upper floors. An extension was built on the North side of the kula, housing a privy that is accessible from the first floor. The windows have been enlarged. The embrasures have been kept, on all the floors, on the facade with the entrance to the cellar. An inscription is chiselled in stone right above the main entrance. A peculiar decorative element is the fresco painted on the building's upper side, only a small portion of which has been preserved to this day.

    The „Holy Trinity Church” is right near the kula. The church was built by Scarlat Drugănescu in 1795. The church has an unusual layout, with five semi-circular apses: at the altar, at the nave and at the entrance. There is a “Heroes' Monument” in the vicinity of the kula, dedicated to those who perished in WWI.

  • Biserica_Druganescu-Retevoiesti_AG-09.JPG Monumentul_eroilor-Retevoiesti_AG-10.JPG
  • Conservation status: Collapse
  • Bibliography:

    Creţeanu Radu, Creţeanu Sarmiza, Kulas from Romania, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1969

    The archive of the National Institute of Heritage

Institutul Național al Patrimoniului         Administrația Fondului Cultural Național