Creating The Palace
The Architectural-Park Complex “The Palace” in Balchik was established as the residence of the Romanian Queen Marie (1875-1938). She called it by the Turkish name "Tenha Yuvah", which is translated as ‘the lonely or secluded nest’. Today, the name "The Quiet Nest" is more common. The Queen visited the town for the first time in 1921 in the company of her son Prince Nicholas and was fascinated with the beauty of the bay. Construction of the residence began in 1924 and was completed in 1936. At the first visit of Queen Marie to Balchik, the place had already become the home for the summer villas of well-known Romanian families of artists (Shtork, Satmare), slowly the little town grew as a favourite resort of Romanian intellectuals.
To the west of the town, Maria found the right place for a residence and exclaimed: "All my life I’ve dreamed of such a place, imagining that it could only be found in Italy, and there it is in Balchik." In addition to the beauty of the place, Balchik was also the southernmost point of the new Romanian territories. Therefore, Queen Marie decided that the place was suitable for building a royal residence.
One of the first buildings to be constructed was the Queen's residence "The Quiet Nest". Together with the construction of the villa the complex's gardens and alleys were laid, the reconstruction of the existing water mills, and reinforcing the terrain were underway. A complete ensemble of buildings and a park, a miniature farm, which had its own security, power plant, post office, canteen, nursery for vegetables and flowers, orchards and vineyards, was formed.
Construction work was completed in 1936. Two years later, the queen died, and two more years later, in 1940, Southern Dobroudzha, together with Balchik, was ceded back to Bulgaria. The Craiova Agreement was signed on 07 September 1940. On 21 September 1940, the citizens of Balchik welcomed their liberators - the Bulgarian troops led by Gen. Popov.
Until 1948, the Romanian state paid tax to Balchik Municipality for its property located here. In 1948 with an Agreement between the two countries, the "Palace" was granted to the then Bulgarian Ministry of Culture and Education, with the express condition that it be a place for recreation and creativity for people of culture and art.
In 1961 with the Order of the Council of Ministers No. 1650/ 30.08.1961 it was decided that the "Palace" would be purchased by the Bulgarian state. On 07 July, 1970, this became a fact with an Agreement between the two countries and a payment made, with which the Palace became the property of the Republic of Bulgaria. At this moment, as before, the property was managed and curated entirely by the Ministry of Culture.
