Crâng Park Forest

CRÂNG PARK FOREST The Park Crâng forest, today with a surface area of 187.18 hectares, is a small remaining part of the old Codru Vlăsiei, known to the people from Buzău from ancient times, as braniște [forest where felling of trees is forbidden] or old oak forest. It also integrated the Crâng Park in the area of 9.4 hectares around the lake (2 times larger than Herăstrău Park and 10 times larger than Cişmigiu Park, both in Bucharest). The park is a deposit of archaeological goods, in Sere – Obelisk area, to the west of the central alley, towards the main gate, material remains from the stone (Neolithic – housing complexes belonging to Gumelniţa culture) and bronze (a tomb dated from Monteoru culture) ages have been identified. About 200 meters West – South/West from the water tower, a complex dated to the 6th – 7th centuries AD, Ipoteşti – Cândeşti culture, was investigated. Documentary, the place is remembered in the time of Radu the Great (1495 – 1508), the founder of the Bishopric of Buzău who, among other goods, endowed it with 600 forest acres. In writing, it is first mentioned during the reign of Radu of Afumaţi (1522 – 1529) who, on 8th September 1525, granted the Diocese the right to cut wood from the braniște domnească [royal forest where felling of trees is forbidden], or braniște [forest where felling of trees is forbidden] called Crângul Târgului, a right reconfirmed by several rulers of Wallachia. Starting with 1828, the Crâng was used by the people from the city as a place for walking, the forest still being the property of the Diocese, until 1850, when ruler Barbu Ştirbei passed it, through royal decree, into the property of the city of Buzău, as a public garden. In 1859, the first Buffet was built in the park, following to be rebuilt several times, and on 6th May 1867, the people from the city erected a stone cross on the edge of Crâng in honor of the Holy Martyr Filofteia, Cross that was later housed in a chapel, built with the support of the city hall, inaugurated on 1st July 1922 and rehabilitated in its current form in 2016 – 2017. In 1870, an area of the forest was arranged for the military units to fire at mark, and in 1882, along Calea Dumbravei, the construction of barracks began, with the newly established 7th Artillery Regiment. The legal situation of Crâng was on the agenda of the meeting of 29th January 1881, of the Chamber of Deputies, when it was adopted the law acknowledging the City Hall’s ownership of Crâng forest. In accordance with the decision of the Communal Council, of 19th April 1886, the development of a connecting road between the city and Crâng, by extending Gârliţei Street, was established. The opening works of the new thoroughfare were completed on 31st March 1888. The new thoroughfare was named Parc boulevard, renamed I. C. Brătianu in 1896, and Nicolae Bălcescu boulevard after 1948. In 1890, the Pavilion for the music of the 8th Dorobanti Regiment was built. In 1897: a house was built for the forester; the Buffet was rebuilt; the pond was concreted and a dam was built; the island, the pavilion and the access bridge to the artificial cave, two ponds in front of the buffet were arranged; the sidewalks around the building were tiled; three statuary groups were installed (by Clovis Armand Masson and made by the Keilhauer Foundry from Bucharest) and the benches on the boulevard were painted. In the same year, the city’s water supply works began, using sources from Crâng, and the first reservoir was built. The work on the „Water Plant” continued in 1913, with other boreholes being carried out, modernized in 1921, 1923 and 1924, when the construction of a new water tower (reservoir) began. In 1900, repairs were made to the cave on the islet, and in 1911 the beautification arrangement was revised. The forest was crossed in the middle by a wide road, in the extension of the boulevard, with radial alleys and two internal roads. As tree species there were: pedunculated oaks (Quercus robur), elms, jugastris, maples, lindens and acorns. The dominant floor was formed by secular trees, and the undergrowth included softwood – spruces and, to a lesser extent, firs. In 1922, at the request of the sports societies of Buzău, first of all Avânt Association, the transfer of the land in the area of the current stadium was allowed, for the development of a sports base. In 1940 the stadium was put into use, and in 1943, the tribune and the changing rooms were built entirely made of wood. The facilities were destroyed by a fire on 14th August 1962, today’s stadium (12,000 seats) was built between 1973 and 1984. It was also then that Metalul sports base was built and in the southern part of Crâng, an artificial ice rink and the athletics stadium were built. Between 1947 – 1950, the pond was enlarged again, and later a canal was dug and a second island was created, the access being made through a majestic wrought iron footbridge. In 1975, the wrought iron fencing of Crângului, towards the boulevard, was executed by Apcarom. „Buzău 1600” obelisk, a work of modern art installed in the middle of Crâng park, on the main avenue, was designed and made by sculptor Gheorghe Coman. The monument was inaugurated in 1976, 1,600 years since the first documentary attestation of the city of Buzău were celebrated. Gheorghe Coman is also the author of the statue of poet Vasile Cîrlova, made in 1972 in Bronze. Another valuable work of art is the work „Vatră”, a stone sculpture made by Florin Codre in 1972. On 1st December 2020, the 48th Buzău Infantry Regiment Memorial was unveiled in Crâng Park. The monument, made by Buzău City Hall, has the names of the 775 heroes of this unit who fell in the War of National Integration (1916 – 1919) carved. An oak tree was planted for each of these heroes, which bears their name. Also, around the Obelisk in the center of Crâng Park, some of the existing or newly planted trees have been named after prominent personalities of Romanian cultural and scientific life, with connections in Buzău region (George Emil Palade, Nobel Prize laureate, Bishop Dionisie Romano, medical writer Vasile Voiculescu, journalist Pamfil Șeicaru, mayor Nicu I. Constantinescu, painter Margareta Sterian, singer Benone Sinulescu, actor Dan Puric, Major General Florentina Ioniţă-Radu, commander of the Central Military Hospital, academician Marius Andruh, engineer Costel Vânătoru, diplomat Greg Scarlatoiu). On 8th February 2022, Pădurea Crâng was officially taken over by Buzău City Hall as the property of the municipality, after 140 years since its acceptance by mayor Nicu I. Constantinescu. The largest urban park in Europe is intended to be arranged here. Crâng Park is included in the List of Historical Monuments (BZ-III-s-B-02500).