Scientific Papers Series B Horticulture

- The Writer’s Rotunda“The construction of the Gheorghe Lazar highschool in 1890, meant that the main entrance tothe garden had to be moved on to the QueenElisabeth boulevard and it also meant giving upthe elm round-point. Those works preceded thedrastic redesign by the German architect,Friedrich Rebhun in the years 1899-1910, whena new, classical style, opposite to Meyer’sconcept was imposed. This transformation canbe seen in many of the garden’s subspaces(theroses terrace, the alley with pergolas, theRomanian Round). The decommissioning ofthe Music and the Semicircular pavilions meanta radical change of the aspect on the SchituMagureanu street side of the garden. Bycreating the Romanian Round and the nearbyspaces, easy terms of accessing those spacesand the garden as well, were created.” (El-Shamali S., 2011).Rica Marcus, in “Parks and Gardens ofRomania” is offering a series of informationabout this newly created space: “it is placedover what used to be a restaurant that leftbehind a circular platform with a diameter ofabout 20 m. According to the Englishtraditions, this forms a bulingrin from all fouraccess points, that descends on a few steps tothe circular alley paved with stone that standsbetween the central round and the surroundingplantation. On the rounds perimeter there wereplanted cone-shaped yews, and groups ofForsythia in between, in contrast of color andform. On the bordure were perennials such asSedum, Stochis, Cerasium, Campanula etc.Parallel to the alley a similar bordure can befound, followed by a lawn with 16 statues ofthe most valuable Romanian writers. Thesilhouettes of the statues of white marble,placed on high stone pedestal were in contrastwith the green background of the compactvegetation. The bulingrin was separated by therest of the garden through a a row of nichesformed by walls of vegetation that stand torepresent the lodges from where you canadmire the center of the composition: the yewround. The niches are formed by iron grids andare climbed by lianas and forsythias. At two ofthe entrances in this garden were placedcolumns with pedestals surrounded by groupsof Cotoneaster horizontalis.” (Marcus R.,1958).364The description made by Rica Marcus is onethat presents numerous elements that made upthe Writer’s Rotunda. However, a few discrepanciesappear between the text descriptionsand the images posted in the same book.Though being described as having 16 statues,photographs posted in the book to emphasizethe description show that there were actually 12statues, three on each quarter of the rotunda.The text description mentions two entries withcolumns while the plan shows that all fourentries had columns, and one image that revealsthe fact that the entrance from the main axishad no columns at all. Though the descriptionmade by Rica Marcus is one of the oldest andmost trustful, the discrepancies between textand images do not reveal how the Rotunda wasoriginally designed by Rebhun.Figure 1. Plan of the Rotunda – 16 statues a 8 columnsappearing on the plan (Marcus R., 1958)Another description of the Rotunda and of itscomponents appears in “Bucharest’s gardens”:“[…] the marble columns from the Rotundawere taken from the Royal Palace during a fire.The iron pergolas, […] were initially placed inthe palace garden, placed by Carol I whileQueen Elisabeth was in a foreign visit, to makethe queen a surprise. When the palace gardenwas disbanded, Rebhun asked for them andbrought them in Cismigiu. The pavement ispart of the pavement that was disbanded fromthe Rondul I de la Sosea.” (Lancuzov Al.,2007). Though interesting details were offered