Bucharest Municipality Museum opens 'Cinema Museion' - online free-access vintage documentary section

The Bucharest Municipality Museum launched on Wednesday the "Cinema Museion" section of its website, which provides free access to a collection of vintage documentary films that provide additional information to the resources represented by the permanent and thematic exhibitions which are temporarily closed until the state of emergency is lifted. "All the 15 Facebook pages of the Bucharest Municipality Museum have been transformed into genuine cultural magazines for the general public, yet themed according to the museum branch they are assigned to: archeology, anthropology, urban history, art history. Following the mobilization of the museum team, yet another idea for sharing useful information to everyone has been found," the museum said in a Wednesday release. The new section currently hosts eight archive films and other will follow. The documentary films in the Bucharest Municipality Museum's archive can be viewed by accessing: http://muzeulbucurestiului.ro/cinema-museion.html and are as follows: * The Little Entente Conference in Bucharest - After the First World War, the small countries wanted an association to defend the status quo established after the Versailles Treaty, and in this context the first regional defensive alliance, or the Little Entente is hammered out by Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania. This was the first regional alliance closed in post-war Europe and which pursued to create a climate of peace and security in the center and south-east of the continent. The Little Entente Conference, which took place in Bucharest on May 9, 1925 reaffirmed the collective security policy against revisionism. The Foreign Ministers of Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia met at the Sturza Palace, and then attended a program that included the May 10 Parade, a visit to the Curtea de Arges compound and to the summer residence of then Prime Minister Ionel I.C. Bratianu. * Ploughing Contest 1927 - The Damaroaia estate within the boundaries of the Baneasa commune - Ilfov County, hosted on October 15 - 16, 1927 a show by several tractor models of American, British and German make, followed by a ploughing contest. The show was attended by Prime Minister Ion I.C. Bratianu, Minister of Agriculture and Estates Constantin Argetoianu, and by Undersecretary of State with the same ministry Gheorghe Cipaianu. The attention wherewith the high officials assessed the qualities and performance of each tractor model (weight, fuel consumption, furrow depth) suggests that they were considering the possibility to place orders abroad for the purchase of the preferred models. The documentary captures an active and high-spirited Ionel Bratianu, just a month and ten days before his unexpected death. * The 1925 Ploiesti Celebrations - The film presents the activities of June 28, 1925, when Prime Minister Ion I.C. Bratianu visited the city of Ploiesti accompanied by Justice Minister George G. Marzescu, and Minister of Labor, Cooperation and Social Protection, Nicolae Chirculescu. On this occasion, Premier Ionel Bratianu laid the foundation stone of the Ploiesti House of Instructors (teaching staff) and cut the inaugural ribbon of the city's ring road. On the same day Bratianu and the ministers accompanying him inspected the building site of the Palace of Justice designed by architect Toma T. Socolescu and the city sewerage works; a divine service was also celebrated on the occasion. The day ended with a dinner offered by the local authorities to the high guests from Bucharest. * Calea Vacaresti/The Vacaresti Thoroughfare - The film takes the viewer on a journey in the middle of last century's Vacaresti Thoroughfare, which took its name from its starting point at the Vacaresti Monastery. The film has two complementary parts: the first presents the Bucharest artery from the South Square to the city center, heading towards Unirii Square, with short stops in the socially or architecturally most significant locations, while the second part offers a cinematographic perspective of the Vacaresti Monumental Building Complex built by the first Phanariot ruler of the Romanian Country, Nicolae Mavrocordat, between 1716 - 1722 and demolished in 1985 by order of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The footage records the reinforcement process initiated in the early 1980s. The aerial images of this compound and those with the interiors of the two churches make this film one of the most complete and valuable recordings ever made at Vacaresti. * The Old Court Princely Palace (1) - The Princely Court of Bucharest presents itself as a succession of buildings from different historical stages, shaped according to the needs, tastes and, above all, the political orientation of the rulers of the Romanian Country. The English language film made at the request of the People's Council of Bucharest presents the history of the Old Princely Court of Bucharest, starting from the beginnings of the settlement set up by the legendary Bucur the shepherd - where people busied themselves with agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, craftsmanship, etc. sheltered by the walls of a fortress at first, and then by the Bucharest Citadel, as it is mentioned in the first documentary evidence on the capital city, and, finally, under the protection offered by the Princely Court, the official residence of the ruler of the Romanian Country. * Old Court Princely Palace (2) - The 1972 film of the 'Ion Luca Caragiale' Theater and Cinematographic Institute presents the history of the Old Princely Court of Bucharest, the official residence of the rulers of the Romanian Country for almost three centuries and a half. The presentation starts after the creation of the Romanian Country, when the settlements and cities underwent a significant development. Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) settles on these realms and raises a fortress somewhere in the middle of the fifteenth century; the film highlights this moment by the presentation of the charter from September 20, 1459, which is the city's first documentary attestation. Bucharest's role as a voivodal residence is laid down in the charter dated October 14, 1565, issued by Voivode Radu cel Frumos (Radu the Fair). The historically dense chapters written by rulers such as Mircea Ciobanul, Matei Basarab or Voivode Constantin Brancoveanu, whose aesthetic tastes took the form of a harmonious combination of shapes and colors accommodated within the walls of the Princely Court, are richly presented. A special mention is made of the cellars built in the 16th century by Voivode Mircea Ciobanul (Mircea the Shepherd), partially preserved in their original form. A part of the presentation is dedicated to the Church of the Annunciation - St. Anton, founded by Mircea Ciobanul; it is the oldest religious monument preserved to this day and the place where the rulers of the Romanian Country took the oath of faith to their people and country. The film ends with the presentation of Manuc's Inn, another iconic building of yesteryear and today's Bucharest, whose walls convey the echo of long-gone times. * The Reinterment of Prince Constantin Brancoveanu - The tomb of the ruler lies in the narthex of the St. George the New Church, founded by Constantin Brancoveanu and consecrated on June 29, 1707 with great pomp. After the deposed ruler's martyrdom on August 15, 1714, when he was beheaded together with his four sons in Constantinople, the bodies were taken by Christian agents of the Patriarchate and buried at the Halki Monastery, not far from Constantinople. In June 1720, Brancoveanu's wife Maria brought the remains to Bucharest, in great secrecy, and buried them in the St. George the New Church, governed by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The secret of this burial was so well preserved that Brancoveanu's grave remained unknown for two hundred years. Only in 1914, archaeologist and historian Virgil Draghiceanu discovered the inscription on the filigree silver candle that kept guard over a beautifully "flowered" tombstone: "This candle offered to Saint George the New lights the resting place of the bones of the blessed Constantin Brancoveanu Basarb Voivode and was crafted at the request of His Lady Maria, who hopes in the Lord that her bones will also be laid to rest here. July 12th, year 7228 (1720)." On May 21, 1934, following the decision of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the ceremony for the re-burial of the remains of the martyr Voivode Constantin Brancoveanu was organized in Bucharest. The procession carried the remnants of the valiant defender of Christianity to the Patriarchate, where a religious service was held. Attending were His Majesty King Carol II and the members of the Royal House of Romania, the Grand Voivode Mihai, His Royal Highness Prince Nicolae, His Holiness Patriarch Miron Cristea and representatives of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church. * The Visit of the Little Entente Representatives to the 'Florica' Villa - The 'Florica' Villa is located in Stefanesti - Arges County, just a few kilometers from the city of Pitesti. At the time the "moving images" were captured in 1925, the last refurbishment works designed and managed by statesman Ionel I.C. Bratianu himself had just been completed. The mansion has a very old history, dating from the middle of the 19th century. Its foundation stone was seemingly laid in 1823. In the records of the Bratianu family the year 1858 is etched as the date of the modernization works carried out by Ion and Pia Bratianu, while the building's present form is given by Ionel Bratianu in 1925. The name of the estate was given in memory of Florica, the family's first born and the elder sister of Ionel, who died at the age of 3 in 1865. Over time, the estate expanded significantly and a chapel was built in the place where Florica was originally buried. The mastermind of the chapel's design, dedicated to "The Birth of St. John the Baptist", is French architect Andre Lecomte de Nouy, who led the renovation of the Curtea de Arges monastery church. A church from Transylvania, known to have been attended by 1784 peasant uprising leader Horea, was brought to the estate in the first building relocation attempt known in Romania. A farm, a lovely dendrological park and even a train station were also built on the estate. This special place has grown along with the members of the Bratianu family and with the extended family of these Liberal statesmen. After the visit captured in the footage, a sculpture was installed in the park (signed, according to certain sources, by Ivan Mestrovici) featuring three vultures that signify the union of the three signatory states of the Little Entente alliance. AGERPRES (RO - author: Eusebi Manolache, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)