Cula Cernăteștilor – Historic Fortified Mansion in Cernătești

Cula Cernăteștilor, located in the village of Cernătești, approximately 37 km from Craiova, is a national heritage site and one of the few preserved fortified rural dwellings in Oltenia. The word “cula,” of Turkish origin, means “tower” and refers to the fortified boyar residences built for defense against Ottoman incursions and haiduks. Constructed at the end of the 18th century and expanded during the 19th century, the mansion belonged to the noble Cernătescu family, which played a key role in the community by founding the local church and the first school in the village between 1820 and 1827. Among its prominent members was Petrache Cernătescu, a history professor and member of the Divanul Ad-hoc. The family’s last descendant, a painter, left Romania for Belgium after the nationalization of the estate.

After being taken over by the state in a state of disrepair, the mansion was partially restored with the help of a local teacher and the community, functioning as a small museum between 1929 and 1979. Surrounding the mansion once stood manor houses, stables, and barns, now lost to time, leaving the cula as the sole remaining testimony to the boyar era. Early photographs taken before World War I reveal the building’s deteriorations and turbulent history. Later restored and now managed by the Oltenia Museum – Ethnography Section, Cula Cernăteștilor remains a significant cultural and architectural landmark of Oltenia, offering visitors an authentic glimpse into the region’s noble past and its defensive architectural traditions.