The "Brancovan Palaces at the Bucharest Gates" Cultural Center is a public institution of culture of local interest under the authority of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest. The Brancovan Palace of Mogoşoaia was first documented on the 24th of Aprilie 1698. The construction was completed on the 20 September 1702 (as the inscription above the main door reads). Stephen, son of Prince Constantine Brancovan lived in the palace. Set by the lakeside, in a rectangular courtyard surrounded by strong walls, the palace has a rectangular, regular plan, having three storeys: basement (cellar), ground floor and upper floor. The cellar is remarkable due to its sizes and ...solidness. A central pillar divides the space into four rooms, each covered by a cupola with pendants. The ground floor comprises eight rooms for the prince's servants, while the entire upper floor used to be inhabited by the princely family. At the upper storey, on the facade looking aut the lake, there is the most refined architectural element of the palace: the magnificent loggia, Venetian in style, with three arches. Nowadays it is framed by two turrets, added during the restoration from 1860 - 1880, that can be remarked due to their columns with capitals carved in stone. In addition, the turret on the east side of the palace stands on eight stone columns, with a richly decorated balustrade. The vault of the turret had been covered with mural painting with geometric and floral motifs, of which a few fragments are extant. On the upper floor, probably in the High Spatharus hall, there is a large fresco depicting, on two meter panels each, the travel of the prince to Adrianopolis, in 1703, and his encounter with the sultan. Fragments from this fresco were still extant by the middle of the 19th century, but most paintings, stuccos and interior decorations were destroyed by the Turks in 1775. The rich inlaid work mingles stylistic elements characteristic both of the Renaissance and the Baroque. Nowadays Mogoşoaia estate comprises an English park, with Italian style gardens, a courtyard where there are the palace, kitchen, ice house, gate tower (before 1702), the guest house (the 17th century, 1927 - 1936 restorations), and outside it "N. Bibescu" greenhouses (1890), "St. George" Chapel (1688), and "Gheorghe Bibescu" Chapel (the 19th century). The palace shelters the Liana and Dan Nasta donation, a comparative art collection (about 300 pieces). The ground floor halls and in the annexes annually present about 12 temporary, theme or contemporary art exhibitions. The guest house hosts a conference room and residences.
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