Parcul Crâng

The Parc Crâng forest, with an area of ​​187.18 hectares, is a remnant of the old Codru al Vlăsia and has been known since ancient times as a forest or grove. Crâng Park, with 9.4 hectares, is twice as big as Herăstrău Park and ten times bigger than Cișmigiu Park in Bucharest. In the Sere - Obelisk area, archaeological remains from the Neolithic (Gumelnița culture) and bronze (Montoru culture) were discovered.

The grove is documented since the time of Radu cel Mare (1495-1508), who donated 600 forest stakes to the Bishopric of Buzău. The first written mention dates from the time of Radu de la Afumati (1522-1529), when he granted the right to cut wood from the Crângului forest. In 1828, the forest was used as a place for a promenade, and in 1850, through a royal office, ruler Barbu Știrbei transferred the forest to the ownership of the city of Buzău as a public garden.

In 1859, the first Buffet was built in the park, which was rebuilt several times, and in 1867 a stone cross was erected in honor of Saint Filofteia. The cross was later housed in a chapel built with the support of the town hall, inaugurated in 1922 and rehabilitated in 2016-2017.

In 1870, part of the forest was arranged for military training, and in 1882 the construction of the barracks of the 7th Artillery Regiment began. In 1881, Buzău City Hall was officially recognized as the owner of the Crâng forest, and in 1886 it was decided to extend a street connecting the city and Crâng. The new thoroughfare, completed in 1888, was named Parcului boulevard, and was later renamed I. C. Brătianu in 1896 and Nicolae Bălcescu after 1948.

In 1890, the Pavilion for the music of the 8th Dorobanti Regiment was built, and in 1897, various improvements were made in the park, including the concreting of the bridge, the construction of a weir and an island. In the same year, the city's first water supply systems were built, which were later upgraded in 1921-1924.

In 1922, land in Crâng was given for the development of a sports base, and the current stadium (with 12,000 seats) was built between 1973 and 1984. Other developments include an ice rink and an athletics stadium in the south of Crâng.

Between 1947 and 1950, the pier was enlarged again, and later a second island and a wrought-iron footbridge were created. In 1975, the Grove was fenced with a wrought iron fence, made by Apcarom.

The obelisk "Buzău 1600", a work made by the sculptor Gheorghe Coman, was inaugurated in 1976 to mark 1600 years since the documentary attestation of the city of Buzău. In the park there is also the statue of the poet Vasile Cîrlova and the sculpture "Vatră" made by Florin Codre.

On December 1, 2020, the Memorial of the 48th Infantry Regiment Buzău was unveiled, which honors 775 heroes of the First World War, each represented by an oak tree planted in his memory. Also, the trees around the Obelisk in Crâng Park were named after prominent personalities of cultural and scientific life in Romania.

On February 8, 2022, Pădurea Crâng was officially taken over by Buzău City Hall as property of the municipality, with the intention of transforming this space into the largest urban park in Europe.

In 1859, the Bufetul din Parcul Crâng was built, a Swiss pavilion with a basement, rebuilt or renovated several times.

In 1897, the entrepreneur Jean Henry Schwartz erected a new Swiss-style construction, enriched with Romanian architectural details, mainly from the Chiojdu area, Buzau.

The building had a basement with four rooms and a cellar, a ground floor with three rooms, a living room, terrace and two verandas, an upper floor with eight rooms, a living room, three halls and a veranda, plus several annexes.

Initially, the restaurant was called Parcul Trandafirilor, but later it was called Crâng Restaurant.

Currently, the restaurant is an object of interest in Crângul Buzăului, thanks to its architecture that blends perfectly with the landscape, being at the end of the axis that connects the Crâng forest to the city center, on the other side of which is another emblematic building, the Municipal Palace .