Conacul Vergu Manaila

Casa Vergu-Mănăilă is the oldest preserved secular building in the municipality of Buzău, documented as early as 1794, although some sources suggest its construction may date to around 1780. Listed as a national historical monument, the building blends vernacular architectural style with the Brâncovenesc style and represents one of the few surviving examples of feudal noble architecture in the Buzău area. The house takes its name from two noble families united through marriage: the Mănăilă family, originally from Bălișoara, whose captain had close ties with ruler Constantin Brâncoveanu, and the Vergu family. The captain's niece, Maria, remarried in 1779 the stolnic Nicolae Vergu, and the two became the owners of the manor, whose grounds encompassed what are now the streets Războieni, Tudor Vladimirescu, and Independenței. Lady Maria founded in 1792 the Gârlași hospital — the third hospital in Țara Românească at that time. The building was nationalised in 1948 and fell into disrepair; it was reconstructed between 1971 and 1974 on the original foundations, with only a single cellar beam surviving from the original structure. The foișor on the main façade is a later addition. Since 1976 it has housed the Ethnography and Folk Art Collection of the Muzeul Județean Buzău — a section dedicated to the life of the Romanian peasant at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, featuring clay vessels, traditional tools, icons, folk costumes, and textiles. Admission: 6 lei for adults, 2 lei for pupils and students.