Public institution

The main objective of the activity of the County Centre for Nature Protection, Tourism and Sustainable Rural Development Dolj is to ensure the management and the exploitation of the Dolj county`s natural heritage by fulfilling the tasks of the Dolj County Council regarding the management of Natura 2000 sites and the protected natural areas, improving the quality of life in rural areas through sustainable development and tourism promotion in Dolj county.

Organizaţie guvernamentală

The Administrative Palace of Craiova, located at 19 Calea Unirii, is one of the most representative buildings in the city. Built in the first part of the 20th century according to the plans of architect Petre Antonescu, in the neo-Romanian style promoted by Ion Mincu, the edifice today houses two of the most important institutions of the county: the Prefecture and the Dolj County Council. The Administrative Palace was built at the beginning of the 20th century, most probably between 1912-1913 (the starting year of the construction differs from source to source, from 1907/1909/1910/1912). It is said that Prime Minister Ion I. C. Bratianu, present at Craiova at the liberal meeting of June 24, 1909, would have been present at the placement of the act at the foundation of the building. The constructor appointed by Antonescu for building the Administrative Palace was Giovanni Battista Peressutti. From an aesthetic point of view, the façade decoration is distinguished by the numerous original elements, but which reinterpret the elements of the old Romanian architecture: the roof with green enameled tile, decorative elements of zinc sheet and skylights, the loggias, balconies and bay windows on the side façades of the floor, the console crevasses, the trilobal springs from the windows, the window frames, the columns, friezes and stone sinks, the decorative brackets or rainwater gutters, modeled with the twisted rope motif. Starting with April 1, 1915, the Prefectural Palace hosted at the ground floor the Dolj County Antiquities and Ethnography Museum, set up at the initiative of history professor Ştefan Ciuceanu, and from 1928 it became the Regional Museum of Oltenia. During the period 1916-1918, during the German occupation in Craiova, the institutions that had their headquarters in the Administrative Palace were evacuated, as the German Railways Directorate was set up here. At the departure of the Germans from Oltenia, the furniture and the building were devastated, and the patrimony of the Regional Museum was severely affected by the German occupation robbery. On December 12, 1922, the Craiova Scientific Society (director professor Marin Demetrescu) was set up in the Prefecture's office, which aimed at endowing the capital of Oltenia with a Museum of Natural History. In 1934, the collections of the Regional Museum were moved to the basement of the Prefecture, in the halls facing Calea Unirii. In September of the same year, the festive hall of the Administrative Palace hosted the Congress of Numismatics and Archaeology in Craiova. In 1935, due to the works, a crack appeared in the dome of the honor stairs. The consolidation was done under the direct supervision of Petre Antonescu, the architect of the original project. Starting with February 24, 1945, the building will host the Regional People’s Council (until 1968), the Dolj County Committee of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) and the Dolj County Council (until 1989), and since 1989 it has housed the Prefecture and the Dolj County Council . The earthquake in 1977 affected the Administrative Palace building, which has later undergone extensive repair works. Since 1989, the Administrative Palace of Craiova houses the Prefecture and Dolj County Council. Source: www.monumenteoltenia.ro

The Palace of the Bank of Commerce, a monumental building that houses the Craiova City Hall, is one of the most famous buildings in the city. The Bank of Commerce was designed by architect Ion Mincu in 1906 and completed in 1916 by his student, Constantin Iotzu. The building has a rich interior decorated with stuccoes, stained glass, Venetian mosaics and wrought iron grilles. On December 12, 1897 (according to other sources in 1899), the banker and liberal politician from Craiova, Constantin Neamţu, set up in Craiova the Bank of Commerce, in the form of a family business. The banking company quickly became one of the most important and successful banks with Romanian capital in the country, opening branches in several important cities. At the time of its inauguration, the Bank of Commerce was one of the most beautiful buildings in the city and even in the country, impressing both by its exterior and its interior, richly decorated with stained glass, chandeliers and mosaics. Built on 3 levels, the building had a basement (treasury bank thesaurus, various warehouses, archive, homeowner's residence, central heating, own power plant and mechanical workshop), ground floor (a vestibule, a large hall, offices and administration offices) and an upper floor (a vestibule from which, through a gallery, one can reach the hall where various offices, the boardroom and the director's office are located). During the period 1916-1918, during the German occupation in Craiova, in the new building the German general headquarters were installed. When the Germans left Oltenia, the building was devastated, as it happened with several other occupied buildings. After 1948, several institutions were operating in the building, including the Academy of Historical Sciences, Archaeology and Ethnography, the Municipal Committee of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) and the Municipal People's Council. After the 1977 earthquake, the building benefited from current repair works. Since 1989, the former headquarters of the Bank of Commerce is the headquarters of the City Hall and the Local Municipal Council of Craiova. In 2000, a feasibility study was carried out to consolidate the building, with the intention to request funds from the World Bank. However, the proceedings were stopped due to disputes over the ownership of the building, which is why no administration has since tried to start rehabilitation works. Source: www.monumenteoltenia.ro Photo: imagoromaniae.ro; www.monumenteoltenia.ro