French elegance in the South of Romania

Our manor tour has brought us this time somewhere close to home, at Popeci Manor in Padea, Dolj county, in the South of Romania. The manor was built in 1907, as requested by the local banker Nene Popp. He supposedly had it built for his wife, Relly, whose name is engraved on the front side of the manor. Ion D. Berindey, one of the most famous architects at that time, designed the Padea Manor as a personal family home, inspired by the eclectic French style. In 1945, the building was transformed in a preventorium (building for patients infected with tuberculosis who did not yet have an active form of the disease), mainly for poor children that were taken care of by a family of doctors. The manor as it is today was restored by its current owner with European Union funds, trying to keep as much as the original architectural style. It spreads around 10 acres, including the small park around it.

Since it is a private property, you can’t visit the manor without calling first. You also can’t stay the night as a hotel guest because their main activity is events, weddings and parties. They have 7 rooms for the persons attending the events, if they choose to spend the night there. It is the perfect place for a party or a wedding, it feels like you stepped in another era. They have a ballroom, a tennis court and also a playground for children. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see all the rooms in the manor because they had an event the night before and not everything was in place. But we could go inside and saw some of the rooms, the main hall, the salon and the terrace that offers a beautiful view. We didn’t want to leave, it was so peaceful. We were very impressed by the salon, with its big chandelier and antique furniture. The rooms are very high and it might give you the impression that you’re in a museum, but this makes you appreciate more the details on the walls and ceiling.

We also went to explore the outside and arrived at the playground, where we couldn’t resist and we tested the swings. The back of the manor is quite different from the front and it almost seems like a different building. On the other side of the manor we found the perfect place for relaxation, “the column area” as we decided to call it. We were told that they have a lot of fashion and wedding photo shoots and we get why. It looks absolutely stunning in pictures. We really liked this manor, we felt like we were going back in time, although we glimpsed some elements that brought us back to 2016.