Palaces belonging to Romanian Roma people in Buzescu village, southern Romania. Image: AFP/Daniel Mihailescu
With their soaring marble columns, turrets and pagoda-style roofs, elaborate mansions built by affluent Roma dot Romania鈥檚 countryside in their thousands.
Amid modest surroundings of fields or small towns, the so-called Roma palaces seem improbable, even outlandish but reveal a quest for status within a marginalized and mostly poor minority.
They began springing up in the early 1990s after the collapse of communism when some in the Roma community came into money, they say, mostly by collecting and selling scrap iron or by doing petty trading.
Now spread across one of the European Union鈥檚 poorest members, the imposing buildings, estimated to number several thousand, often stand several stories high, as neighbors add floors to outdo one another.
Decorative flourishes such as the American dollar sign or a German car brand logo can be seen mounted on some of the facades as a symbol of wealth.
Romanian architect Rudolf Graef said that, although often ridiculed as 鈥渁bsolute kitsch,鈥� the style of the 鈥淩oma palaces鈥� should not be dismissed.
It 鈥渞eflects, paradoxically, a part of Romania鈥檚 history, unlike contemporary architecture implemented by the state itself,鈥� he said.
The roofs in particular, with their gables and twisty steeples reminiscent of Asian temples, are an 鈥渆xaggeration鈥� of the country鈥檚 typical architectural elements, he told AFP.
Courthouse copy
Styles differ from region to region, according to Graef, author of a study on the topic.
In central Romania, the houses are inspired by Catholic churches, while they copy neoclassical structures in the southwest and neo-Romanian traditions in the east and south, with interpretations of traditional farmers鈥� houses or those of ancient boyars, or aristocrats.
But, says Graef, despite their variations, they all have one common goal, that of showing off the 鈥減restige and success鈥� of those who live in them.
At times, the structures can even replicate existing public buildings, such as one with a particular back story in the village of Buzescu, 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the capital, Bucharest.
Dan Finutu, a locally prominent and reportedly wealthy member of the Roma community who died in a car accident in 2012, had had his home modeled on the courthouse where he was sentenced to jail for fraud in the 1990s.
Gold and poverty
鈥淭he sources of funding for these palaces are unclear,鈥� Graef said.
Many of the Buzescu owners have said that they made money through scrap metal and still do that as an occupation; others have gone abroad to work.
The end of communism heralded a laxer legal environment in which it was easier to make money.
The Roma were also able to affirm their identity after the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu鈥檚 regime in late 1989.
For centuries, the traditionally nomadic minority was reduced to slavery and then subjected to forced assimilation under communism.
For his part, Costica Stancu, a Buzescu Roma community leader, linked the emergence of the first 鈥減alaces鈥� to the return to the Roma of some of their gold that had been confiscated by the communists.
The Roma have long observed the tradition of giving gold coins as presents at the birth of a child or a marriage.
The coins are passed down the generations, and Roma women often turn them into necklaces.
But in 1978, the communist regime adopted a decree forcing all Romanians officially, but mostly targeting the Roma, to turn their gold over to the authorities.
In most cases, the handover was formally documented, which helped in the return of the gold to the Roma under post-communist legislation.
Costly upkeep
With a population of 4,000, Buzescu has dozens of 鈥淩oma palaces鈥� lining its main street, to the delight of passing tourists.
Most of Romania鈥檚 two million Roma, about 10% of the population, remain impoverished, however.
And for all their ostentation, the mansion owners often live in just one or two rooms, reserving the big salons decked in marble and gold for special festive occasions, Stancu said.
鈥淢aintenance is very costly,鈥� added the 72-year-old, noting that fewer 鈥減alaces鈥� were being built today.
A number of the Buzescu homes even appear deserted, and Stancu who himself lives in a little house with a garden reckons that those under construction won鈥檛 be finished for lack of money.
A 鈥減alace鈥� owner in her 60s who gave her name only as Lidia said that many Roma who can afford it leave.
鈥淭hings aren鈥檛 like before,鈥� she said, her voice tinged with bitterness, standing outside her imposing entrance gate.
鈥淧eople have left, for Bucharest or abroad,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey want to earn money and stay there.鈥� HM/JB
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