Some would say I'm unimaginative. Even I am tempted to think so. Now I'm not referring to writing some blog, I'm referring to the fact that I travel to see the sea (almost) only in one place, Balchik, a city on the shore of the Black Sea in Bulgaria.
I live in Romania, Bulgaria's northern neighbor. I live in Bucharest, a city which is fortunately in the south of Romania and thus close to the Bulgarian border, which makes the road to the Bulgarian Black Sea slightly longer than the road to the Romanian Black Sea. Longer journey but well worth it. The Bulgarian coast is much more beautiful than the Romanian coast.
I have seen several places in Bulgaria. I liked the two most: Balchik and Sozopol. Balchik in the first place and that for several reasons...
Balchik is located north of Bulgaria and Sozopol in the south, so Balchik is much closer to Romania.
Balchik is in the region of Dobrogea, which was almost 40 years in the kingdom of Romania, until 1940. There are a few sights here that have a Romanian origin and that I have always wanted to see and still like to see.
Between the two world wars, Balchik was the favorite place for Romanian painters, writers, and artists to spend their summers.
Most of them came because it had become a trend and they followed Queen Mary of Romania who had her summer residence there. Some of them built their holiday homes here.
Such a holiday home is one of the reasons why I like to travel to Balchik several times a year.
Stork Family House
Balchik is a seaside resort with few beaches. Few and small. It is a favorite resort for mature people who like to walk and relax.
A long promenade invites you to stroll.
Tourists can see hotels, restaurants, terraces, cafes, gardens, the queen's castle, and villas.
Many passers-by, myself included, are particularly attracted by a building...
It is an imposing and beautiful building, with a different architecture from the other buildings, with a Venetian loggia with columns, built of stone similar to marble.
An abandoned and decaying building, overgrown with vegetation.
I learned that this villa was the holiday residence of the painter and decorative arts teacher Cecilia Cuțescu-Storck and the sculptor Frederic Storck. The Storcks bought a Turkish pavilion in 1922 and transformed it, with the help of the Romanian architect Henrieta Delavrancea-Gibory, into a holiday residence and creative workshop.
In 1940 this region was retroceded to Bulgaria and everyone who had holiday homes in Balchik lost them. Some were demolished when the resort developed, others were refurbished and turned into hotels. The Storck Villa was left abandoned and neglected.
I didn't understand why such beauty didn't attract anyone to buy and use it... I've wondered about that all the years I used to walk by this building in the summer.
The most recent trip I made to Balchik was in January this year. I had the biggest and most pleasant surprise...
The vegetation has been cleared and work is underway to repair the villa. I'm so glad. This house deserves as long a life as possible to remember those who built it.
I don't know what will be the destination of this building in the future. I only know that it was bought for 3 million euros. Will it still be a holiday home or perhaps a multi-star hotel?
In writing about these houses I keep forgetting the sea. This view can be admired from the balcony of the Storck house.
Surely time will answer these questions. I hope I will be able to travel again in the years to come to find out.
There is still so much to say about this place, the houses, and the people who built and lived there. It is part of the history and culture I learned about in school. I will continue with stories about this wonderful place, Balchik!
