Constanța Casino

The Constanța Casino (Romanian: Cazinoul din Constanța) is a casino located in Constanța, Romania. It has been designated by the Romanian Ministry of Culture and National Patrimony as a historic monument. The casino is on the Constanta boardwalk at 2 Elisabeta Boulevard along the Black Sea in the historic Peninsulă District of the city. The casino was built three separate times, with the first structure being erected of wood in 1880. It was designed to be a club and community center for elite and upper-class socialites willing to spend. Once considered Romania's Monte Carlo and a symbol of the City of Constanța, the most-recent and modern version was built in Art Nouveau style, also being the most important Art Nouveau building in the country, designed and built according to the plans of Daniel Renard and inaugurated in August 1910. The most modern version of the Casino was in operation for 38 years, with interruption due to the two world wars, attacked and bombed by Bulgarian and German troops in World War 1, ravaged in World War 2 and, at one point, acted as a makeshift wartime hospital. In 1948 it was taken over by the Communist government becoming a House of Culture (Casa de Cultură a Sindicatelor) for the party until 1960 when it was handed to the National Office of Tourism Oficiul National de Turism (ONT). The last major repairs took place in 1986-1988, and the building is currently...