Conacul Manuc Bei

What you see

The complex is at Strada Mitropolit Varlaam no. 51 in Hîncești. At its heart stands the princely palace in French neoclassical style, built between 1858 and 1861. Alongside it you will find the steward's house, a lookout tower and the hunting lodge, designed in 1881 by Alexandru Bernardazzi, the architect of much of 19th-century Chișinău. With its round corner tower, the hunting lodge is the best-preserved building of the ensemble and has housed a regional museum of history and ethnography since Soviet times.

Today the estate is run by the Conacul Manuc Bei district cultural centre, which organises guided tours, exhibitions and cultural events there.

History

Manuc Bei was a diplomat and merchant of Armenian descent who left Bucharest after the Russo-Turkish War of 1806 to 1812. He acted as a go-between for the Russian and Ottoman armies; according to Adevărul, the armistice of 1812 was signed at his inn in Bucharest. He bought the Hîncești estate and settled in Chișinău, where he died on 20 June 1817. He is buried by the Armenian church in Chișinău.

His descendants had the palace built: his son Murat began it and Grigore completed it. In Soviet times the complex was damaged; until 1991 it housed a construction college. Between 2013 and 2015 nine buildings were restored, with almost 2.2 million euros from the European Union and a contribution from the district itself. In 2025 the district commissioned a new restoration design for the hunting lodge, because a deep crack threatens the north wall and the corner tower.

Tips for your visit

• Allow an hour and a half to two hours for the buildings, museum and park.
• Phone ahead if you would like a guided tour; the centre can be reached on +373 608 77 522.
• Combine your visit with Hîncu Monastery in the forests of the Codri.
• Because of restoration work, parts of the hunting lodge may be temporarily closed.