Landmarks in the surroundings of Forest Retreat & Spa

Built on a hill right in the central area of ​​Măciuca, the Spa Center enjoys the privilege of having in the immediate vicinity one of the largest open-air museums in the country consisting of sculptures by foreign and Romanian artists gathered in an intercultural camp .

Ancient plains with a rich past, loaded with data and facts, Măciuca commune is located in the south of Vâlcea county on the left bank of the Cerna river in a picturesque, special setting, bordered by 7 hills (the popular song “Seven valleys and a deep valley ”Is from these lands), on which there are 9 villages that are part of the commune: Oveselu, Botorani, Bocșa, Ciocănari, Popești, Măciuceni, Măldărești, Ștefănești and Zăvoieni. Located at the intersection of roads that connect it to important cities (Craiova, Slatina, Tg. Jiu, Rm. Vâlcea, Drăgășani, Horezu), this town has always been an important economic, historical and cultural center to which many traditions are linked. in the patrimony of our county.

The town has been documented for hundreds of years. On June 30, 1503 in a christ of Radu cel Mare – “Strengthens the rule of some boyars over the Măciuca estate”, on July 10, 1531 in a christ of Vlad Voievod, Zăvoieni village in a documentary from June 22, 1596, Măldărăști village – April 30, 1622.

The locality of Maciuca is also mentioned in the map of Fr. Schwantz with the name Mecsuka.

In 1821, the inhabitants of the villages of Măciuca and Zăvoieni signed a declaration by which they undertook to fight in Tudor Vladimirescu’s army. In fact, “Tudor’s Oak” on the banks of the Cerna River, an oak with a circumference of almost 6 m. And a height of over 30 m., Reminds of the passage of Tudor Vladimirescu through these places. This locality has an interesting toponymy: Măciuca is based on the noun “măciucă” with wide origin. matteuca.

The education in Măciuca has a tradition of approx. 200 years. In 1824 in Măciuca a school was founded which since 1818 functioned as a popular church school. Since 1868, the school has had two classrooms and a chancellery and was located on the road next to the fair. In 1898, inside the school, Spiru Haret set up a library. In 1928 Nicolae Iorga donated 500 volumes to this library, through a cultural foundation in Bucharest.

The culture from Măciuca played an important role in preserving the traditions of Vâlcea. In 1928 the cultural home “Lucefărul” was founded and in 1948 the cultural home in the center of the commune was built. The echo and the success obtained by the folk show “la furcărie”, by “Călușul” – present especially in the days of Pentecost, the well-known folk songs that have their origin in these lands: “Climb the hill to Măciuca”, “Between Cerna and Olteț ”,“ Seven valleys and a deep valley ”,“ Green leaf like grapefruit ”.

The popular architecture is relevant through the culverts of the inhabitants Alexandru Măciuceanu, Sandu Măciuceanu, Drăghici Măciuceanu, Nicolae Bănică, Barbu and Răducu Bocșariu, culverts that were built in the 19th century.
Near Măciuca Commune, at a distance of 18 km, is the Otetelișanu Mansion, the place where the pen’s inventor, Petrache Poenaru, was born.
The mansion from Benești was built by the Otetelișanu boyars, a family of great patriots, philanthropists and lovers of national culture. Ilie Otetelișanu (the one who, in 1720, founded the church of Saint Elijah in Craiova), “owed” his heirs “to clothe the poor, to get the debtors out of prison, to feed the sick.” Iancu Otetelişanu, who received the direction of the National Theater in 1845, encouraged the creation of an original repertoire in Romanian and supported the troupe founded by Costache Caragiale.

In this mansion lived the brothers Iordache and Grigore Otetelișanu, great book lovers who, in 1835, founded together, at their own expense, the first school of “beginner teachings” in the village of Beneşti. In the same year, the two built, with funds from the Epitropy of St. Elijah’s Church, a primary school for girls, a pension based on the Western model, the first school of this kind established in Craiova, the school where practical education classes were taught.

In the same mansion, on January 10, 1799, Petrache Poenaru was born. Romanian pedagogue, teacher, engineer and mathematician member of the Romanian Academy and inventor of the patented tank heel in Paris and Vienna in 1827. Together with Tudor Vladimirescu, whom he accompanied throughout his campaign, Petrache Poenaru created, following the French model, the current Flag of Romania, initiated and printed the first Romanian newspaper: “Propaganda Sheet”.

Tudor Vladimirescu also passed by the Otetelișanu Mansion just a few weeks before he was arrested and killed by Eterie in May 1821. The Otetelișanu boyars were always close to the leader of the revolutionary movement and he would be with them at a time when “the canvas the dead seemed to have been left in everyone’s eyes ”- as Iordache Otetelișanu would tell in a letter.