A building in Romania is among the most threatened heritage sites in Europe this year.
During the European Year of Cultural Heritage, Europa Nostra, the leading heritage organisation in Europe, and the European Investment Bank Institute have announced the most threatened heritage sites from 7 European countries this year and the Casino building in Constanta, southeastern Romania, is among them.
“Built in 1910, the Constanta Casino has become a landmark of the Black Sea shore. Daniel Renard, the Swiss Romanian architect who designed the building, opted for a lavish expression of Art Nouveau to reflect Romania’s modernisation during the reign of Carol I. Following many years of alternating commercial and state held responsibility for the building’s care, during the 2000s, the Casino was abandoned. It remains so to this day due to local authorities’ inability to find funding and to launch a rescue and restore operation. There have been several transfers of administrative rights from the Municipality of Constanța, the last of these being to the National Investments Agency within the Ministry of Development. The main danger to the building comes from the corrosion and rusting of structural metal parts. Sea storms and winds have shattered most of the windows facing the sea. It is very likely that the roof will collapse if this process continues, “ the authors say.
The nomination for the 7 Most Endangered programme 2018 was submitted by the ARCHÉ Association.
Find out which are the rest of the most threatened heritage sites here.