Dreaming Away at Balchik
PalaceDestinations
16 March 2007, Friday.
The concept of harmony between man and nature was the foundation, on whichthe palace at the coastal town of Balchik was built, while the Baha'i cultto beauty breathed life into it. Turning into reality the dreams of aneccentric Romanian queen - Marie of Edinburgh.By Milena HristovaThe construction of the palace, later to be called "The Quiet Nest", beganin 1924, when the region of Southern Dobrudzha was still in the hands ofRomania. Armies of experts from Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Romaniawere gathered together to draw on their skills in architecture, gardening,stone-cutting and painting and turn the unique steep slope of stones overthe Balchik Gulf into an extraordinary piece of architectural art and arefreshing oasis amidst the dryness of Dobrudzha plateau.It is a small surprise that Queen Marie of Romania picked this wild andpicturesque spot over the Balchik Gulf to live and dream away. It was itsvirginity and romanticism that captured her heart and imagination, whileroaming through Romania's newly conquered areas.The Baha'i teaching, whose fervent follower the queen was, preached that allreligions can be united for the sake of beauty. The palace, together withdowntown Sofia, is one of the few places in the world where Christianity andMuslimism live peacefully together and complement each other. Here thevisitor can see the white minaret of a mosque, sporting a weathercock on itsedged top, right next to the dome of a Christian church. The silver well,with a ceramic medallion with the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus chiseledout, is one of the most inspiring and touching Christian symbols here. Ifyou see your reflection in its clear waters and drop a coin, be sure allyour dreams will come true!The queen's castle is located on the very coastline, bringing togetherelements of Mediterranean culture, Bulgaria's Revival and Orientalexoticness. The "Quiet Nest" villa is bordered by the queen's home at theone end and the chapel at the other. In between is a labyrinth of gardens,flowers, lakes, bridges and paths, linking into one organic whole theseparate parts of the complex - an irrefutable proof of the owner's delicateflair for harmony and aesthetics and her never-ending search for beauty.Queen Marie (1875-1938) was the daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh, secondson of Queen Victoria, uncle of George V, and of Grand Duchess Marie,daughter of Tsar Alexander III of Russia. She was, therefore, first cousinto King George, by birth a Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, by marriage aHohenzollern, having married into the Catholic branch of that family whenshe became the bride of Crown Prince Ferdinand of Rumania. The palace andthe pictures hanging on its walls paint the picture of a romantic andeccentric woman, whose vision transcended the everyday and the historicaland poured over the invisible and the occult in a bid to explain the ups anddown of life and destiny.After her death and in accordance with her will, her heart was brought tothe palace, cushioned in a gold casket, to spend two years at the cloisterof her house of dreams. A day after Bulgaria restored its reign overSouthern Dobrudzha in accordance with the Treaty of Craiova, the casket wastaken back to Romania.The turn of events, however, gave birth to a new beginning - the botanicalgarden, which sprawls on the territory of the queen's former summerresidency. It's not for nothing that the garden, one of Bulgaria's fourbotanical gardens, was named after her house, "The Palace", even though itsdesign and selection of flowers was completely overhauled. Bathing insunlight most of the year, the garden is home to more than 2000 plantspecies belonging to 85 families and 200 genera. One of the garden's mainattractions is the collection of large-sized cactus species arrangedoutdoors on 1000 m², the second of its kind in Europe after the one inMonaco.Unfortunately a few years ago the garden's future was threatened by wranglesover ownership and revenues collection. It would be unforgivable if we failto protect the heavenly and exotic beauty of this unique part of Bulgaria'sBlack Sea coast. Standing right by one the world's best symbols ofdifferences overcome, unity and beauty.http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=77994__._,_.___
and more about the gardens from this site:
http://www.travel-bulgaria.com/content/varna_out_of_town.shtml
PalaceDestinations
16 March 2007, Friday.
The concept of harmony between man and nature was the foundation, on whichthe palace at the coastal town of Balchik was built, while the Baha'i cultto beauty breathed life into it. Turning into reality the dreams of aneccentric Romanian queen - Marie of Edinburgh.By Milena HristovaThe construction of the palace, later to be called "The Quiet Nest", beganin 1924, when the region of Southern Dobrudzha was still in the hands ofRomania. Armies of experts from Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Romaniawere gathered together to draw on their skills in architecture, gardening,stone-cutting and painting and turn the unique steep slope of stones overthe Balchik Gulf into an extraordinary piece of architectural art and arefreshing oasis amidst the dryness of Dobrudzha plateau.It is a small surprise that Queen Marie of Romania picked this wild andpicturesque spot over the Balchik Gulf to live and dream away. It was itsvirginity and romanticism that captured her heart and imagination, whileroaming through Romania's newly conquered areas.The Baha'i teaching, whose fervent follower the queen was, preached that allreligions can be united for the sake of beauty. The palace, together withdowntown Sofia, is one of the few places in the world where Christianity andMuslimism live peacefully together and complement each other. Here thevisitor can see the white minaret of a mosque, sporting a weathercock on itsedged top, right next to the dome of a Christian church. The silver well,with a ceramic medallion with the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus chiseledout, is one of the most inspiring and touching Christian symbols here. Ifyou see your reflection in its clear waters and drop a coin, be sure allyour dreams will come true!The queen's castle is located on the very coastline, bringing togetherelements of Mediterranean culture, Bulgaria's Revival and Orientalexoticness. The "Quiet Nest" villa is bordered by the queen's home at theone end and the chapel at the other. In between is a labyrinth of gardens,flowers, lakes, bridges and paths, linking into one organic whole theseparate parts of the complex - an irrefutable proof of the owner's delicateflair for harmony and aesthetics and her never-ending search for beauty.Queen Marie (1875-1938) was the daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh, secondson of Queen Victoria, uncle of George V, and of Grand Duchess Marie,daughter of Tsar Alexander III of Russia. She was, therefore, first cousinto King George, by birth a Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, by marriage aHohenzollern, having married into the Catholic branch of that family whenshe became the bride of Crown Prince Ferdinand of Rumania. The palace andthe pictures hanging on its walls paint the picture of a romantic andeccentric woman, whose vision transcended the everyday and the historicaland poured over the invisible and the occult in a bid to explain the ups anddown of life and destiny.After her death and in accordance with her will, her heart was brought tothe palace, cushioned in a gold casket, to spend two years at the cloisterof her house of dreams. A day after Bulgaria restored its reign overSouthern Dobrudzha in accordance with the Treaty of Craiova, the casket wastaken back to Romania.The turn of events, however, gave birth to a new beginning - the botanicalgarden, which sprawls on the territory of the queen's former summerresidency. It's not for nothing that the garden, one of Bulgaria's fourbotanical gardens, was named after her house, "The Palace", even though itsdesign and selection of flowers was completely overhauled. Bathing insunlight most of the year, the garden is home to more than 2000 plantspecies belonging to 85 families and 200 genera. One of the garden's mainattractions is the collection of large-sized cactus species arrangedoutdoors on 1000 m², the second of its kind in Europe after the one inMonaco.Unfortunately a few years ago the garden's future was threatened by wranglesover ownership and revenues collection. It would be unforgivable if we failto protect the heavenly and exotic beauty of this unique part of Bulgaria'sBlack Sea coast. Standing right by one the world's best symbols ofdifferences overcome, unity and beauty.http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=77994__._,_.___
and more about the gardens from this site:
http://www.travel-bulgaria.com/content/varna_out_of_town.shtml
The first destination is the Quiet Nest palace, tile former summer residence of Queen Marie of Romania, and its famous gardens of more than 35 ha. The gardens are the "residence" of 3000 or so plant species of which cacti alone are over 250, and thus Europe's second most important collection, The palace park is an imitation of the Famous Cretan labyrinth. Each stone for the church therefore was brought from the island of Crete. The Carden of Allah is the prettiest. The Silver Well and the alleys paved with mill stones are also very interesting The earthen jars were brought from Morocco.
and more about the castle and some lovely pictures of the gardens here:
http://www.intovarna.com/balchik_palace.html
and more about the castle and some lovely pictures of the gardens here:
http://www.intovarna.com/balchik_palace.html
and another fascinating article here:
includes the following:
This peculiar "Queen Marie Code" reflects her adherence to an exotic religion. Although her religious background was Church of England and she adopted Romanian Orthodox Christian beliefs, in her later years she befriended Martha Root, a renowned travelling "teacher" of the Baha'i Faith.
Queen Marie became the first member of a European royal family to officially profess Baha'ism. This faith, established in the 19th Century by Baha'ullah, expounds the unity of god, religions, and mankind. Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and all other religious leaders are considered to be prophets of God's will.
Queen Marie sought peace, love, rapport, and serenity in Baha'ism and Balchik. Instead, she died a violent death and her sarcophagus was taken back to her adopted homeland. Her heart ended up in Bran Castle, a Romanian tourism landmark situated on the border between Transylvania and Wallachia. It owes its fame to the myth that it had been the home of Vlad the Impaler. Nevertheless, Marie's spirit lives on in the strange and wonderful home she made in the Quiet Nest of Balchik.
It is no surprise that she had so many men vying for her attentions. Queen Marie was renowned for her beauty and during the 1920's she appeared in advertisements for perfumes by Houbigant Paris, "Parfumeur to Queen Marie of Roumania", chocolates and Pond's Skin Creams.An easily-recognisable high society figure, she frequently appeared in newspapers and magazines and made the front cover of Time magazine in 1924 as a "regal authoress".Indeed, she wrote many books of poetry and prose, including children's fiction, as in The Magic Doll of Roumania (1929), books about the supernatural, the Queen of Roumania's Fairy Book (1925), and the novel, The Voice on the Mountain (1923).
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