Unseen Romania

“George Enescu” Memorial House

“George Enescu” Memorial House is situated on the right bank of the Prahova River, in the small city of Sinaia. Named by the artist himself, the “Luminiş” Mansion stands for a place for both rest and divine inspiration, reflecting the complex personality of its founder: the great Romanian musician George Enescu (1881-1955). In fact, the “Luminiş” Mansion was built between 1923-1927 by the architect Radu Octavian Dudescu accordingly to the sketches of the Romanian musician himself, detail which reveals another side of Enescu’s creative talent.

Although George Enescu was born in a small village in Moldova, Liveni, he was strongly attached to the Sinaia city due to the beautiful and inspiring scenery of the Bucegi Mountains and the Prahova Valley. Moreover, in the small city of Sinaia, George Enescu found the first and most important support for his artistic career in the person of Queen Elizabeth of Romania who was herself a writer hiding her real identity under the pseudonym of Carmen Sylva.

Convinced of Enescu’s promising talent, Queen Elizabeth offered the young artist a quiet room in the Peleş Castle where he could study and free his imagination. Therefore, the Peleş Castle’s cultural soirees were the ones which promoted Enescu as a promising young musician.

The architecture of the Luminiş Mansion combines elements of the Romanian architectural style which prevail with elements with a foreign touch: Oriental embellishments and Biedermeier pieces of furniture. However, there is a sharp contrast between the simplicity of the façade, the oriel and the bedroom of the artist which bears a resemblance to the rustic room of his childhood and the complexity of Maria Cantacuzino Enescu’s bedroom which reveals the eclectic spirit of the artist’s wife.

Book a room in Sinaia at Hotel Anda, near the Luminis Mansion!

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