Racoviţă Kula

In „Prof. Constantin Năstase” Ethnographic Museum, Racoviţă neighbourhood, Mioveni, Argeş county.

While driving on Road 73 Piteşti – Câmpulung, turn to Road 73D and drive into the town of Mioveni, Racoviţă neighbourhood.

Prof. Constantin Năstase” Ethnographic Museum, Mioveni

Visiting hours: Sundays, between 10-12 and 16-18

Telephone: 0248 262 458

According to tradition, in 1786, boyar Dumitraşcu Brătianu (from Brătiei Valley), who ruled over the estate of Racoviţa, built the kula and the local “Saint Nicholas” church. The church was commissioned together with archimandrite Daniil, Father Superior of Râncăciov Monastery. The kula was rebuilt in 1806, after a fire, by Dumitraşcu Brătianu's son-in-law, Colonel Nicolae Racoviceanu. The building underwent important modifications in 1878, when the rooming was restructured. Repair works also took place over 1910-1914. It was repaired again at the end of the 1970s.

The kula has a compact, square layout. It has three floors. The ground floor is accessed from the West side; this is where the staircases to the upper floors and a room are located too. There is a cellar behind these areas, with a separate access door, on the Northern side. The living quarters are located on the first floor. The second floor, rebuilt as a result of the restorations performed in the 1970s, only includes one room, which is used as a museum space. The windows on the first two floors are shaped as embrasures. Images from the 1930s and 1970s show the kula before restoration, having just two floors, and the massive stone frames of the embrasures are visible too.