The Palace of Alexandru I. Cuza, Code LMI IS-II-m-A-03930 The Museum of the Unification, Iasi, Iasi County, Address: no. 16 Alexandru Lăpușneanu st. Datation: 1806 History
When the building in question was restored in order to house there the Museum of the Unification, a bottle was found containing a document that mentioned that the building was raised in 1806 by the boyar family Catargi. From the Catargis it came in the possession of the spătar (high magistrate, bearer of the princely emblems) Mihalache Cantacuzino, who left it to his wife Maria, née Ghica. The Ghicas sold it to the Societatea Creditului Urban – Iaşi (The Society of Urban Credit) and then to the Liga Culturală (Cultural League). In 1859 the building was restored and became the residence of the new Moldavian Prince Alexandru I. Cuza, who lived there until he moved to Bucharest, the capital of the United Romanian Principalities. Description The building has a ground floor, upper floor and partial basement, was developed on a square plan with a central hallway and surrounding rooms. From the staircase to the upper floor hallway one passes through three arcades of different sizes. The hallway itself is decorated with classical elements in stucco (cornices, pilasters, rosettes). The doors’ frames are decorated with profiles and eggs, acanthus leaves, consoles, etc. Almost all the rooms are decorated with stucco ornaments and rosettes near the chandeliers. On the outside, the building has a neoclassical architecture with Renaissance and Baroque elements. The ground floor presents bosses and the avant-corp of the polygonal façade has arched windows, preceded by a balcony supported by massive consoles with baroque profiles. Between the arched windows at the upper floor are inserted demigods with human heads and deformed extremities that form long consoles. On these were laid ionic capitals that support slender bases on which vases were set. In between them we see the classic balusters and in the middle the official Moldavian emblem. The building has a cornice with consoles all around it. The windows have Renaissance profiles with consoles bearing decorations that pass over the cornice, and the space under the windows is also decorated with floral elements.
