I C Davani Kula

Larga Village, the Commune of Samarineşti, Gorj County

Larga Village can be accessed by driving on the road connecting Motru (town) to the Commune of Văgiuleşti (there is a sign towards the village and a four-kilometre unpaved road) or from the Commune of Slivileşti on a paved road up to the entrance into the village. The Kula is on a hill together with a small wood church dedicated to Saint Nicholas, in the centre of the village. As landmark, it is at number 9, but the access road is actually a path.

This is not a public building.

According to Iancu Atanasescu, the house is known under the name of Ion C Săvoiu. In the immediate surroundings there is a wooden church dedicated to St Nicholas, now it is no longer used as a place of worship, founded in 1826. Probably around the church there was a cemetery from which a cross without historical value was kept, mentioning the name of the surveyor engineer Costache Săvoiu and his wife, Maria. From Mr. Petre Băjenaru, a local inhabitant, I found out that the last owners were schoolmaster I. C. Săvoiu and his wife, Teodora.

The building is made of wood with two levels and a roof covered with wooden tiles. The ground floor has a basement and a little hall with a staircase making the connection with the upper floor. The upper floor comprises two rooms and a porch. The wooden beams in the porch are almost identical with those in the veranda of the wooden church nearby, which made Radu Creţeanu date the kula in the third decade of the 19^th century. At the beginning of the 20^th century the porch was closed, two windows were opened, and the building was plastered.

“Sfântul Nicolae” Church in Larga.

The Săvoiu family owned many estates in the Gorj County area. The building of the kula in Lupoaia Village is connected to the name of this family (a village located approximately ten kilometres away from the Larga village), at the end of the 18^th century), which is also the most spectacular building of this type on the Motru Valley. Unfortunately, the kula was not preserved, its ruins were only visible until 1950. By marriage, the Săvoi family became related to families such as: Crăsnaru – the owners of the kula in Groşerea, Bălcescu, Gigurtu and Sănătescu. They had important positions in the magistracy, public administration and the army. The small “Sfântul Nicolae” Church has the form of nave, is made of wood, without steeples. Framed writing can be seen in the uncovered porch.

“This holly and Godly church celebrating Saint Nicholas was sanctified in 1826, and due to the efforts of the kind congregation of Larga Village it was possible to make the metal plate roof and the foundation of the holly church in 1973-1974. The necessary materials were bought with money donated by the kind congregation, in Larga Village and the neighbouring villages: Stramtu, Slivileşti, Cojmăneşti, Tehomir and Ţirioi. The religious ceremony was celebrated on 1^st May 1976 by the parish priest, father Dumitru Săndulian, and the higher ranking priest of the Târgu Jiu parish, Neofit Stănculescu”.

Currently the church is no longer used as a place of worship.