Moldova 1 TV campaign | SAVE THE DILAPIDATED MANORS: Pommer Mansion in Țaul, once the village pride, now lies in ruin
We are continuing our campaign to highlight the historical and cultural significance of abandoned mansions. Through reports and interviews, we aim to showcase not only the condition of these buildings but also their potential as tourist attractions. Preserving these estates is not just an aesthetic or tourism concern; restoring them can revitalize communities and transform these ruins into museums, cultural centers, or educational spaces.
Today, we are discussing an estate in the northern part of the country that is listed in the Register of State-Protected Monuments. Pommer Manor in Țaul, Dondușeni, evokes both amazement and sadness. Once the pride of the region, the building now exists only as a shadow of its former self. The facades, still grand in their proportions, show significant signs of deterioration. The crumbling plaster exposes the bricks beneath, the once-elegant windows are broken, and the shutters hang like remnants of a bygone era.
Welcome to the Pommer Mansion! This should have been the welcoming greeting for anyone wishing to admire the splendor of the estate. However, the reality is quite different. The gates have been locked for years, and the sound of visitors' footsteps has been lost in the silence of history.
The mansion was built in the early 20th century by banker Andrei Iacob Pommer. To learn more about the history of this architectural gem, we spoke with Corneliu Țîcu, a history teacher and secretary of the Țaul Local Council.
"In 1897, this land was put up for sale and later purchased by Andrei Pommer, a financier originally from Odessa who later settled in Saint Petersburg. He married Alexandra Bogdan, a woman from Bassarabia. Our complex consists of 11 buildings. In addition to the mansion, we have three guest rooms that were later converted into hotels, as well as several buildings for household use," said Professor Corneliu Țîcu.
The estate covers 62 hectares, of which 52 hectares are planted with a park featuring a dendrological collection of over 150 species of trees, shrubs, and vines.
"Situated in an amphitheater-shaped area with a southern slope, this was one of Pommer's conditions for bringing in more exotic species for our flora, and he succeeded in this. For example, he introduced thuja, beech, Japanese sophora, lilac from Iran, and many other species," explained Corneliu Țîcu.
Today, only the memory of the former park remains. "We have conifer trees that are unfortunately disappearing, with many varieties looking dry and some even cleared away."
The architectural complex is also suffering the ravages of time. "Recent technical assessments reveal that the building is in an advanced state of damage, although many original features of the construction have been preserved," said a history professor.
After Pommer's death, most of the objects from the mansion were allegedly stolen. Now, the local museum only holds photographs of the mansion from its glory days. "The Museum of History and Ethnography has a wide variety of photographs from the time of the boyars, including images of the manor and its auxiliary annexes. Unfortunately, that's all we have left. Many items are owned by locals from the village. After the looting, there were no pieces left; they were lost or stolen," claims Natalia Rățchitor, manager of the Museum of History and Ethnography in Țaul.
The mayor of Țaul is working to rehabilitate the manor. In the initial stage, he secured a grant that allowed him to enclose the entire estate with a brick fence, as it had originally been constructed by the Pommer boyar.
"The boyar's manor is in a very bad, deplorable condition. We have been fighting since 2013 to restore not only the manor but also the dendrological park in the village of Țaul, along with the annex buildings adjacent to the boyar's manor. By January, we will complete an updated technical project, and I believe that by the spring of 2026, we will begin the restoration of the boyar's manor," declared Andronii Mitrica, the mayor of Țaul.
Until this promise becomes a reality, residents and visitors will continue to witness the decline of a historic building that loses its beauty and historical value each day.
