Balchik Palace

The Balchik Palace (Bulgarian: Дворец в Балчик, Dvorets v Balchik; Romanian: Castelul din Balcic) is a palace in the Bulgarian Black Sea town and resort of Balchik in Southern Dobruja. The official name of the palace was the Quiet Nest Palace. It was constructed between 1926 and 1937, during the Romanian control of the region, for the needs of Queen Marie of Romania. The palace complex consists of a number of residential villas, a smoking hall, a wine cellar, a power station, a monastery, a holy spring, a chapel and many other buildings, as well as most notably a park that is today a state-run botanical garden.

Architectural complex

Marie of Edinburgh, the wife of Ferdinand I of Romania, visited Balchik in 1921 and liked the location of the summer residence, ordering the vineyards, gardens and water mills of local citizens to be bought so a palace could be constructed at their place. Balkan and Oriental motives were used in the construction of the palace that was carried out by Italian architects Augustino and Americo, while a florist was hired from Switzerland to arrange the park. The main building's extravagant minaret coexists with a Christian chapel, perfectly illustrating the queen's Bahá'í beliefs.

Today many of the former royal villas and other buildings of the complex are reorganized inside and used to accommodate tourists. Some of the older Bulgarian water mills have also been preserved and reconstructed as restaurants or tourist villas.

Botanical garden

In 1940, after the reincopration of Southern Dobruja in Bulgaria with the Treaty of Craiova, the Balchik Botanical Garden was established at the place of the palace's park. It has an area of 65,000 m² and accommodates 2000 plant species belonging to 85 families and 200 genera. One of the garden's main attractions is the collection of large-sized cactus species arranged outdoors on 1000 m², the second of its kind in Europe after the one in Monaco. Other notable species include the Metasequoia, the Para rubber tree and the Ginkgo.

Trivia

Francis Ford Coppola spent 11 days at the palace shooting scenes of Youth Without Youth.

External links

Palace

Botanical garden

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Matei P.
28 August 2014
This woman, at the bottom entrance is a crook who is forcing people to but tickets to both the palace and the garden (upstairs this is not the case). She is rude and would not identify herself.
Andre-Louis Moreau
2 August 2015
The so called palace is just a two-story house but the gardens are a must see. A nice place for a quiet walk and some relaxation.
Светлин Стаев
Incredible park with lush greens and tons of flowers. Exceptionally maintained. Had a great time while in Balchik.
Captain America
17 August 2014
Definitely worth seeing. Staff is sort of difficult to talk to. Entrance fee is some 12 lv which I find particularly expensive for Bulgarian standards.
Svetlana Artemyeva
21 July 2018
Очаровательный ботанический сад: можно спрятаться от жары и продегустировать бесплатно вино. В сам замок лучше не ходить, внутри пусто. Можно купить билет ТОЛЬКО в сад, хотя зазывалы говорят что нет.
Аня
7 March 2016
Большой комплекс, который включает в себя сад, дворец королевы и винные погреба. Очень рекомендую к посещению!
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8.5/10
Eugeniy, Viq Kh and 2,189 more people have been here
Map
ulitsa "Akad. Daki Yordanov", 9600 Varna, Bulgaria Get directions
Sun 10:00 AM–8:00 PM
Mon 10:00 AM–7:00 PM
Tue Noon–4:00 PM
Wed 11:00 AM–9:00 PM
Thu 11:00 AM–8:00 PM
Fri 10:00 AM–9:00 PM

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