Only 36 km from Bucharest, close to where the river Arges flows into the Danube, one can find an architectural compound with two country manors dating back to the 17th and 19th centuries, respectively. The manors are located close to a church built in 1600, commissioned by Elina, wife of Wallachian ruler Matei Basarab. A 10-hectare park surrounds the House of Stone, built by Udriste Nasturel, brother to Elina, and the stately manor - the "palace" - of Atanasie Stolojan. The latter was built at a much later date but it displays an obvious intent of architectural coordination with other buildings in the compound.

OPENNESS AND NO FEAR. The manor in Heresti, designed as a summer residence, was not a familiar sight to its 17 th century contemporaries. Built in the shape of the letter "L", with no pillared porch, no lookout tower and no external staircase, the three-storeyed building had outside walls covered in polished stone (name given to marble by impressed travelers).
In commissioning the manor in this style, much akin to Western European Renaissance, Nasturel, a scholar and a diplomat, was not shying away from displaying his true ideals at a time when the Byzantine-orthodox tradition was actively encouraged by the dominant Turks. Paul of Alep, one of the foreign travelers amazed by the manor, wrote: "the palace has no equivalent in the world apart, perhaps, from what is in the country of the Francs". It is also worth noting that, despite it being close to the Danube, the building was not fortified - a manor speaking plainly of self-assurance and confidence in the face of the threat of invasion. Today, the manor belongs to the National Peasants'Museum in Bucharest, which carries out an ongoing ethnological research project in the area and which periodically organizes excellent exhibitions - in line with the much-awaited ecomuseum that it intends to open with the help of the villagers.

VILLAGERS PROUD OF THEIR MASTERS. In November 2001, a photo exhibition entitled "THE VILLAGE AND THE PALACE" was opened in the House of Stone. It shows the results of a field research caught on camera by Alice Ionescu. The intention of the organizers was to offer the public a different image of the palace and a view of the village from the perspective of the palace, as shown in the words and behavior of the local villagers.
Research over the past 10 years has shown that the relationship of the villagers with the owners of the land, at least from what transpires from oral tradition and what is safely guarded in the memory of the village elders, was positive and helped the development of the community. The villagers in Heresti were always proud of their masters, whom they respected and who offered them help and understanding whenever necessary. Today, the villagers themselves see their village as an important architectural site with a museum that represents them.
The originality of the exhibition is enhanced by the villagers who are its subject, its object and its receiver at athe same time and whose reactions, displayed when confronted with their own images as shown by the camera, speak volumes. For visitors to Heresti, the exhibition provides a genuine opportunity to discover the Romanian village in the best of its traditions, memory and contemporary existence.

Villagers in church

Villagers in Heresti