Old Constanta Casino

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The Constanta Casino is a defunct casino, located in Constanța, Romania. It has been designated by the Romanian Ministry of Culture and National Patrimony as a historic monument.

The casino is on the Constanța seafront at 2 Elisabeta Boulevard along the Black Sea in the historic Peninsulă District of the city. The casino was built three separate times, with the first structure being erected of wood in 1880. It was designed to be a club and community center for elite and upper-class socialites willing to spend. Once considered Romania’s Monte Carlo and a symbol of the city of Constanța, the most-recent and modern version was built in Art Nouveau style, also being the most important Art Nouveau building in the country, designed and built according to the plans of Daniel Renard and inaugurated in August 1910.

After years of delays, the renovation of the famous Casino in the Romanian seaside city of Constanta can now be launched according to the city mayor. The main reason for the delays were the appeals, which have blocked the process.

The Art Nouveau building has had a fascinating history since it opened as a casino in 1910. It was the hangout of Europe’s jetset. By night, royals and celebrities mingled at the poker and roulette tables, under ornate ceilings and sumptuous frescos. In the daytime, light streamed through its huge clam shell window facing out to the sea. Such was its draw that a replica was built in Monte Carlo.

Soon after the Russian royal family visited in 1914, it was converted to a military hospital with the outbreak of World War 1. A devastating bomb attack at the hospital in 1916 left 10 people dead.

By 1917 it was operating as a casino again — until the outbreak of World War II, when it was again hit by a bomb. For a short time during World War II, the building was used as a hospital.

Another blow came after the war, when Romania’s strong anti-gambling laws effectively ended its days as a casino. It operated as a restaurant under the communist regime after the war. Unfortunately, in 1990 the building was closed to the public, and it has been left sitting empty, slowly becoming more and more dilapidated.

The latest company that contested the auction took the decision to withdraw its appeal, and now the local authorities can keep on with the procedure. The fourth auction is over and finally, the contract for the restoration can be signed. Now it is expected for the casino to be rehabilitated and restored.

Former minister of development Daniel Suciu also announced that the bidder decided to drop the appeal. According to his statement, on 13th September 2019, the auction for the rehabilitation of the Casino was contested on the last day. On the same date, the company lost the case at the Bucharest Court of Appeal. On 19th December, the company also dropped the action filed with the CNSC (the National Council for Settlement of Appeals e.n.).

The estimated contract value for the restoration of the famous casino in the Romanian seaside city of Constanta amounts to over RON 110 million (more than EUR 23 million), according to development minister Vasile Daniel Suciu.

ONE OF THE MOST ENDANGERED HERITAGE SITES IN EUROPE

For years it was the landmark of the Black Sea shore. In 2018, the Casino was included on Europa Nostra’s list of 7 most endangered heritage sites in Europe.

There are a lot of legends and secrets about how the casino was built. One such legend claims that Constanța Casino was built by a navigator whose daughter died young, at 17 years old. Her father, the story goes, decided to built the Casino for young people to share moments that his daughter couldn’t. If you look from the top, the casino supposed to look like a hearse and the windows like graves.

Did you like to read this article? Read an article about 600 years old Black Church of Brasov.

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