It is a class A historic monument of national value (LMI code CT-II-m-A-02880) and appeared in 1934 in the Paris magazine L'Architecture d'aujourd'hui.
About the place
The foundation stone was laid on 22 October 1932, and the building opened in August 1933 as a seaside sanatorium of the Society of War Invalids; the name comes from Bellona, the Roman goddess of war. The architect set it at right angles to the shore, with a rounded bow facing the sea, curved balconies like decks and round windows. It has been a hotel since spring 1934; in the 1950s it was called the 'Marea Neagră' rest home, then Belona again.
The building is part of the Blank Parcellation, the area of interwar villas along Tudor Vladimirescu Street. Here G. M. Cantacuzino also designed Vila Aviana (1930) for the banker Aristide Blank, the G. V. Bibescu villa (1931) and Vila Crinul (1933), and Horia Creangă designed the villa of Grand Voivode Mihai (1930). Next to the hotel stands the statue 'Rod' ('Fruit') by Boris Caragea, from 1964, also a listed monument.
Good to know
- The bow is best seen from below: take the cliff steps in front of the hotel down to the beach.
- The hotel website's 'Istoria locului' page has photos and postcards from every decade.
- On the terrace above the beach, now the hotel's café bar, Nicolae Titulescu gave a tea party in June 1935.
Opening hours
Opening hours are not confirmed. Check the venue's website before you go.