1910, 1951, 2025: the stone, the note, the reopening # The shell on the cliff [Bran](https://mariuscomper.uk/castelul-bran/) said: fortress stone. [Peles](https://mariuscomper.uk/castelul-peles/) said: stone and light. The Casino says it differently: the stone tells its architects — three sets of drawings, Renard–Antonescu–Renard — and the walls tell their people: a note from 31 December 1951, found in 2020. At birth the press called it a "matahala" — and, on 8 August 1910, a "monument raised in honour of ineptitude and bad taste". On 21 May 2025 the city reopened it as a symbol. We climb it together, storm by storm: on the left you see the year and what is being built, broken or patched. And at the end we do what we did at Arges, Hunedoara, Voronet and Peles: we grade the legends — what the stone says, what the paper says, what the press says and what no record says. ## Where the shell stands 4 Regina Elisabeta Boulevard, on the cliff, on the peninsula: the Casino between the Genoese lighthouse and the Aquarium — and the Aquarium stands right on the provisional wooden casin's spot. On paper: LMI CT-II-m-A-02801, a class-A monument; below, the RAN 60428.02 perimeter of ancient Tomis. The map below takes you from the country to the cliff. The Casino The lighthouse The Aquarium The Casino The lighthouse The Aquarium Outlines: Natural Earth (public domain). Coordinates: Wikipedia / OpenStreetMap. The timber · Two buildings, two storms ## What stood on the cliff before the stone? There were two timber buildings, not one: a cazina from 1880, by the Genoese lighthouse, and a casin from 1892, by the former National Bank, on Elisabeta Boulevard — that is how the city hall's 2024 study separates them. The storm, though? Here the papers quarrel: Ziua de Constanta says a storm in the winter of 1901 and a demolition vote on 29 January 1902; AGERPRES says a storm in 1891 and demolition in 1892. This page does not decide: it lays both dates on the table. The provisional Casin, timber on a stone base, held the place until 1910 — and among its builders, Constantin Creanga, Ion Creanga's son. Pulled down that year to make way for stone. The cazina is described with everything: a dance hall, two reading rooms, two game rooms and the famous terrace toward the sea. The promenade in 1937: the stone Casino minds its walkers — the timber before it had stood right here. Photo: Fortepan / Balassa Peter, via Wikimedia Commons. The drawings · Renard–Antonescu–Renard ## Who drew the Casino? Three sets of drawings. First Renard: a design contract on 23 July 1903, with mayor Cristea Georgescu. Then Antonescu: on 30 October 1905 the council rejects Renard's project and asks for Romanian style, plus a winter theatre; the cornerstone is laid in July 1906 — ground floor, mezzanine, two storeys, high attic, two end towers. Then Renard again: on 25 July 1907 the work returns from the ministry, and the order of 10 November 1907 says it plainly: after Renard's plans, estimate 380 thousand lei. In 1908 the site hurries: Renard is reminded in May, and on 16 June Anghel Saligny, director general in the ministry, approves the reinforced-concrete floors, under engineer Ion Pasla. Renard himself? Born on 24 March 1871 at Dragomiresti, schooled at the Beaux-Arts in Paris; a Swiss father — so say the Romanian sources. His guiding motif: a sort of demi-rosette in the shape of a shell. The great shell-shaped glass wall, north-west front: Renard's motif, seen up close. Photo: Laura Tudosie, 2010, via Wikimedia Commons. The commission · Three men, one list ## What did Mincu and the others want? On 21 December 1909, inspector general Elie Radu and architects Ion Mincu and Dimitrie Maimarolu inspect the site. Their list: a big restaurant hall with kitchen and dependencies, an opening toward the sea terrace, a spectacular arcade at the honor stair, new entrances, cloakrooms and toilets, steps and windows suppressed. Report 18632 of 28 December 1909 writes them into Renard's project. And to be clear: Mincu did not design the Casino. He sat on the commission — the architect of the finished building stays Renard. Whoever says otherwise mistakes the advice for the author. The inauguration · The prince, not the king ## How was the shell born? On 15 August 1910, in the presence of Prince Ferdinand — prince, not king: whoever writes "king" next to 1910 is a reign off. Last retouches in 1912; the concession passes through Heitz in 1911, then to Baron Marcay from 1 January 1912, for 20 years — with modernization for games, a restaurant and a bigger terrace, festively reopened on 1 July 1912. The cost: 1.3 million lei, by the local histories — no conversions: this page does not know how many dollars that would be today and will not guess. Inside: a lobby with a three-flight stair, cloakroom, buffet, reading room, two game rooms and billiards, a performance hall above. The games: roulette, blackjack, baccarat — a real casino, not a decorated one. The Casino in 1944, seen from the cliff: the young stone, under another uniform. Photo: unknown author (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons. The wars · Hospital, bombs, roulette ## What did the century not spare? In the First World War the Casino becomes a military and Red Cross hospital, and in 1916 German aviation bombs it. In 1941 the German troops' Dobrogea headquarters moves inside, and Soviet bombs hit it again. Between the wars, in 1934, Renard himself is called back for repairs — one transcript says 1937; this page keeps 1934, quietly. The games, though, did not die with the bombs: on 21 February 1925 a gambling ban makes noise — proof that gambling was active enough to matter — and diversified exploitation, with roulette, holds until 1940. That is the documented span; the exact stop date stays unclear — what is certain is that by 1947/1948 the building changes master and purpose. The people · The note in the wall ## Who kept the Casino standing? In the late 40s — 1947 says AGERPRES, 1948 the rest — the building becomes the Trade Unions' Culture House. Then, between 1950 and 1953, a renovation site with political prisoners: the note found in the wall is dated 31 December 1951 and names the stucco team, with architect Constantin Joja. Found in late February 2020 by experts Angela Horvarth and Razvan Gavrila, told in the press in May 2020 — and in the spring of 2023 the second note came out, from May 1952, Julius Marton's. Both are now at the history museum. Between 1960 and 1989, ONT Litoral: tourism and restaurant. Between 1986 and 1988, Project 7/86 brings five visual artists — Sorin Dumitru, Gheorghe Firca, Ioan Miturca, Nae Mira, Nicolae Moldoveanu — and Ioan Cadar makes the main-stair Art Nouveau glass: 50 square metres, in 1987. A "1981 restoration"? One weak mention, no file — this page does not take it on faith. The promenade in June 1961, in the ONT Litoral years: walkers and the shell behind. Photo: Babcia Hania (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons. The ruin · The missed ocean and the padlock ## Who closed the shell? After the Revolution, Plesu's ministry receives the building, and Professor Bacescu proposes a Romanian Oceanographic Institute — after Antipa's plans, with Borcea's station and the sciences museum, as in Monaco. It fails: the renovation cost, the institutions' division, the government's restructuring. The Casino returns to restaurant and entertainment. In November 2005 Coppola films masked-ball scenes at the Casino for Youth Without Youth, a 2007 film — the location yes, the film's interiors unproven. Closed in 2008 for fear of collapse, a ruin from 2014 to 2019, access forbidden. On 20 September 2019 the CNI contract is signed: 56.6 million lei, rounded 57, over 30 months — the contract, not the final cost. The Casino at sunrise, in August 2011: visible decay, three years before the ban. Photo: Djphazer, via Wikimedia Commons. The building site · Five years, one symbol ## What did the return cost? On 15 January 2020 the site is handed over for design; the city hall announces the works on 2 May 2020. On 26 March 2025 the Casino is "given back to Romania"; on 21 May 2025 it reopens to the public, in the Days of Constanta. The CNI budget: 187.8 million lei — the press says "over 37 million euros", the press's words, not this page's conversion. The city hall added 15 million lei more, separately. The site's account, by CNI: 1,230 ornaments, over 1,500 square metres of marble, paintings over 2,222 square metres, stained glass across 154 square metres. The basement metal beams, "after the Saligny system", cleaned and kept. A Siberian-pine stage, 5 kilograms of gold leaf, glass from Mexico — from the press, not from the estimate. The Casino on site, on 26 September 2020: scaffolds and mesh over the whole building. Photo: Neoclassicism Enthusiast, via Wikimedia Commons. Today · Cultural center ## Whose is the Casino today? The city's, as a contemporary cultural center: exhibitions, events, history, art and science spaces — a major tourist objective, says the official site. No gambling, no restaurant or catering: so says the handover. The 21 May 2025 reopening led the Days of Constanta, 21–25 May, under Saints Constantine and Helena. From the March 1910 "matahala" to the May 2025 symbol: 115 years later, the shell is still on the cliff — still facing the sea. The restored Casino, in June 2025, a month after the reopening: white, with visitors and flags. Photo: Dennis Sylvester Hurd (CC0), via Wikimedia Commons. The legends · Each with its grade ## What is shell and what is talk? Stone tells the architects: Renard 1903, Antonescu 1905–1906, Renard from 1907 — with Saligny on the floors, not on the drawings. Paper tells the people: the 1951 note, found in 2020. The press tells the 1910 hate, with quote and date. Legend tells the ghosts, the hearse and the roulette curses — this page keeps them as labelled folklore: specialists contradict the hearse-shape reading, and the rest has no record. The graded table is further down, at [myths](#mituri); the grades thread belongs to [Hunedoara](https://mariuscomper.uk/castelul-corvin/), and Carol's initiative is [Peles's](https://mariuscomper.uk/castelul-peles/) story. Vatra Dornei keeps its own casino from 1899 — that is why "the first in Romania" fails its grade, and "the most important Art Nouveau model" stays only as attributed speech, not as a measured fact. ## Pick the shell's age Jump to the year that interests you; the 3D section shows the building of that time. ## How do you read a shell grown from three drawings? Start with the foundations: they are Antonescu's, Romanian style with a winter theatre — and Renard, back in 1907, demolished part of them to make room for the Art Nouveau shell. Where you see the demi-rosette, that is Renard; where you see thick masonry with no decorative point, it may be Antonescu's trace. The 1909 commission glued on the restaurant, the stair arcade and the entrances; the bigger terrace is from the 1912 modernization. Do not forget the figures: land 3,108 square metres, footprint 1,598.81, developed 3,844.56 — basement, ground floor, storey, mansard. The basement beams are "after the Saligny system", not Saligny's design. And costs read in their own currency: 1.3 million lei in 1910, 187.8 million lei in 2025 — no dollars, no "today it would be". For the classroom: draw the building on three strips: the timber (1880–1910), the stone (1903–1912) and the site (2020–2025). Mark the shell, the restaurant hall and the beams. Which phase is missing between 1912 and 2020 — and what question would you ask to find out why? ## Who drew, who played, who patched? Carol I gave, say the local histories, the impulse from the seaside; Renard drew the shell, Antonescu the foundations, Mincu only a commission seat; Heitz and Marcay held the games concession, and the roulette is documented to 1940. Joja with the prisoners patched in the 50s, Cadar set the glass in 1987, Horvarth with Gavrila found the notes, and Cornescu told them, Bacescu dreamed the ocean, Coppola filmed the ball, and Constanta Carp, with Remon Proiect and Aedificia Carpati, brought back the symbol. Among them stands the forgotten man of the contracts too: Constantin Creanga, Ion Creanga's son, among the provisional casin's builders — even asking to rent it as a confectioner. This page mentions him and leaves him so: the builder with his AGERPRES paper, the confectioner with the Dobrogea Culture and Traditions Review's. And the Casino died and rose twice: in 2008, when it closed, and in 2025, when it reopened. For the classroom: make the people's chain on an axis: 1880, 1903, 1906, 1907, 1910, 1912, 1925, 1940, 1951, 1987, 2005, 2020, 2025. Where does Joja go on the axis — at the building or at the patching? What question would you ask to place him right? ## What is legend and what is record? The Casino keeps its legends on the cliff — and this page grades them, as at Arges, Hunedoara, Voronet and Peles: Antonescu is half, Saligny is reversed, Mincu is reversed, "never a real casino" is reversed, Coppola's interiors are unproven, first-only-biggest are banned, the ghosts are legend. None of it is presented here as fact without paper. As for the hate: the press really tore it apart — the "matahala" in March 1910, the "monument raised in honour of ineptitude and bad taste" on 8 August 1910, in the Conservatorul Constantei. The quotes come through Historia and Ziua, though, not from scans we have seen. And Vatra Dornei had inaugurated its casino in 1899 — that is why Constanta cannot be "the first". The table grades it in short. The Casino's legends and facts, graded | Sentence | Grade | Why | The Casino is Antonescu's work | Half | Antonescu 1905–06, Renard finishes | Saligny built the Casino | Reversed | only the 1908 floors + beams | Mincu designed the Casino | Reversed | the 21 Dec 1909 commission | It was never a real casino | Reversed | roulette, 2 rooms, concessions to 1940 | The Youth Without Youth interiors are at the Casino | Unproven | filming in Nov 2005; interiors not proven | It is the first, the only, the biggest | Banned | Vatra Dornei 1899; "important", attributed | The ghosts and the roulette curses | Legend | labelled folklore, no paper For the classroom: take a sentence heard about the Casino ("the first in the country", "the roulette ghost") and grade it as in the table: city-hall fact, CNI fact, half, reversed, legend, unproven or banned. What question would you ask to check it? ## Eight sentences: true or false? Choose. The answers check against the page's sentences. - Before the stone Casino there were two timber buildings. - The storm that wrecked the cazina is firmly dated to 1901. - The drawings came in threes: Renard, Antonescu, Renard. - King Ferdinand attended the inauguration. - Roulette, blackjack and baccarat were played at the Casino. - The games died with the 1916 war. - The prisoners' note is dated 31 December 1951. - Coppola's film interiors are certainly at the Casino. Send it on ## How we worked, and what we do not know This page rests on three things read in full: the city hall's 2024 study, the CNI project page and the 2025 AGERPRES documentation — plus CIMEC/INP metadata, the UAR bulletin, the papers of the time through Historia and Ziua, and the note's text through Adevarul. The years are retold from records and press, not measured on the site; legends are separated into layers: city hall, CNI, press, legend, cinema. The 3D section is schematic: the building rises in turn so the phases show, not by the architect's survey, and the sea moves, it is not measured. What we do not know yet: the predecessors' storm and demolition (1891/92 or 1901/02), the source of "Antonescu from 1904", the accounting act of the 1.3 million, Carol's initiative at first hand, the Culture House year (1947 or 1948), the prisoners' transfer file, the exact date gambling stopped, Coppola's interiors and any conversion of the old leu. When new records appear, the page changes. ## Sources - [Constanta City Hall: opportunity study HCL 526/2024](https://hcl.usr.ro/ct/2024/h526) — the predecessors, the 1903–1912 chain, the concessions, the oceanographic plan. - [CNI: Casino consolidation and restoration](https://www.cni.ro/proiecte/lucrari-de-consolidare-si-reabilitare-cazino-constanta-id-826-cmsid-61) — the 187.8-million-lei budget, the site figures, the Saligny beams. - [AGERPRES: the 2025 inauguration](https://agerpres.ro/documentare/2025/05/21/inaugurarea-cazinoului-din-constanta-cu-prilejul-manifestarii-zilele-constantei-21-25-mai--1451409) — the handover, the reopening, the building chronology. - [AGERPRES: famous buildings](https://agerpres.ro/documentare/2022/05/25/construc-ii-celebre-cazinoul-din-constanta--924597) — the provisional casin, Creanga, the games, the war years. - [CIMEC/INP: Casino postcards](https://cartipostale.cimec.ro/Detaliu.php?id=353) — the LMI code, the address, the 1934 restoration, the 1986 collective. - [UAR: recovering the Casino](https://www.uniuneaarhitectilor.ro/s/dl/e81a6a80a113cd85121896af70b986d011080d74/BIUAR%20octombrie-decembrie%202023.pdf) — the shell motif, the restoration, the architects' context. - [Historia: the Casino in the papers of the time](https://historia.ro/sectiune/general/cum-era-descris-cazinoul-din-constanta-in-presa-574578.html) — the Conservatorul quotes, 1910. - [Adevarul: the message hidden in the wall](https://adevarul.ro/stiri-locale/constanta/cazna-cazinoului-ce-contine-mesajul-ascuns-in-2020325.html) — the text of the 31 December 1951 note. - Cover photo: Andymxm, via Wikimedia Commons — the other images are credited under each photograph. Constanta Casino: the 1880 timber, the 1910 stone and the graded legends. Words: Marius Comper. [Method](#metoda) · [Sources](#surse) · [mariuscomper.uk](https://mariuscomper.uk/)