Văcărești Prison (, also Penitenciarul Văcărești; known euphemistically as Mandravela) was a penal facility located in the eponymous quarter of southern Bucharest, Romania, and developed around Văcărești Monastery. It originally extended the latter's functions as a jail in the autonomous realm of Wallachia, emerging as a major processing center for political detainees after the Wallachian Revolution of 1848. In 1864, shortly after the Romanian Principality had been established, the monastery was confiscated by the state; it became a leading state prison in 1865. Though its regime was largely permissive and centered on penal reform for common criminals, Văcărești came to be used in isolating opposition politicians—initially from the liberal camp. These functions were enhanced under the Kingdom of Romania (1881–1948). In quick succession, Văcărești hosted groups associated with the Social Democratic Workers' Party and the peasant rioters of 1907. The institution was traditionally scrutinized by critics for its overcrowding, inadequate plumbing, allegations of mistreatment and corruption, as well as its controversial role in pre-trial detention—which left arrestees in close proximity to hardened criminals. Penal labor was used in various ways, including some that provided material benefits to the inmates; the , located in neighboring Berceni, was largely built by convicts.
During World War I, Văcărești was used by both the Romanian state, for detaining spies and anti-war activists, and the Central Powers (which occupied southern Romania in 1916), for punishing seditious socialists. The restored kingdom incarcerated former collaborators with the enemy, including writers Tudor Arghezi and Ioan Slavici (both of whom left ample records of their Văcărești confinement); they were held alongside instigators of the 1918 labor strike, whose leader I. C. Frimu died in confinement. The state went on to incarcerate in Văcărești the adherents of Bolshevism, from the terrorist Max Goldstein to many inaugural members of the Romanian Communist Party; in 1923, it also used the prison for rounding up far-right revolutionists, including Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (whose Iron Guard traced its origins and political symbolism to prison life in Văcărești). The complex was in the process of being donated to the Romanian Orthodox Church, but the project was shelved. During World War II, it was intensively used by Ion Antonescu's dictatorship for rounding up communists, alleged spies, and people tried for economic sabotage, alongside participants in an Iron Guard-led uprising. The compound was damaged by and earthquake in November 1940, and by Allied carpet-bombing in 1944; allegations of misuse and corruption also resurfaced, with claims that prison inspector Alexandru Petrescu was exploiting female inmates and that Guardists were effectively running the prison from the inside.
Following the anti-fascist coup of August 1944, Văcărești continued to hold Guardist prisoners, but alongside figures of the Antonescu regime, and, in growing numbers, liberal critics of the Communist Party. The latter inaugurated a communist regime in late 1947, upon which a large part of the prison system, managed by the former Văcărești inmates Teohari Georgescu and Alexandru Drăghici, was opened up for anti-communists of various hues. Văcărești was used as a transit prison, with its population reaching over 4,000, from a previous 1,000 and a recommended 400. Conditions worsened, but were generally above the level of other jails and camps; its rudimentary hospital was used to gather up inmates with serious diseases, as well as victims of torture—with many of them dying at Văcărești, into the 1960s.
Communist leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej kept a watch on Securitate activities and approved of some basic improvements in the prisoners' regimen. His reforms were enhanced and accelerated during his embrace of de-Stalinization, eventually leading to a general amnesty of all political prisoners in 1964. Dej's successor, Nicolae Ceaușescu, initially allowed for Văcărești to be used in detaining common criminals (and, more discreetly, regime critics held under various pretexts), but ordered it evacuated in 1973. The buildings were used by various institutions, or left in a state of disrepair, until being controversially razed, together with the historic church, in the urban systematization of the 1980s. The abandoned grounds became a wildlife area, eventually included in the Văcărești Nature Park.
Early history Foundation The prison dates back to the existence of autonomous Wallachia. The monastery, a central building of the complex, was commissioned by Prince Nicholas Mavrocordatos, on land donated by Constantin Văcărescu, and was completed in 1736.Murgoci et al., p. 23. See also Bădilă, pp. 107–108 As one of the larger monasteries in Wallachia, it came to serve multiple purposes, one of which was that of a penal facility tied to the princely court. Successive princes allowed the monks to handle the inmates' spiritual education, which included their being forced to attend mass, and their parading around Bucharest alongside beggars and the infirm.Ștefan (2006), pp. 487, 492 This function was largely ignored after several reigns, since the monastic community acquired wealth and was dedicated to Mount Athos, allowing it to function independent of Wallachian customs.Ștefan (2006), p. 492 Sometimes used as a temporary princely residence, Văcărești first became a field hospital of the Imperial Russian Army during the occupation of 1811.Murgoci et al., pp. 23–24 The idea was revisited under the Regulamentul Organic regime by Governor Pavel Kiselyov, who turned Văcărești into a quarantine facility, helping to control the spread of cholera.Murgoci et al., p. 24 The first decree mandating that the site be redesigned as a prison came in 1831, but was in practice ignored for over a decade.Murgoci et al., p. 25
The issue became more stringent after the fire of March 1847, which destroyed the city jail at Sfântul Anton Square, prompting the creation of a makeshift facility at Dealul Spirii—itself abandoned after an outbreak of typhus.Mihai Tican, "Din Capitală. O vizită la închisoarea Văcărești. II", in Universul, 14 August 1932, p. 7 After the abortive nationalist uprising of 1848, the Wallachian state used the monastery for temporarily holding captured revolutionaries, including Ion Brătianu, Ion Ghica, Ion Heliade Rădulescu, Gheorghe Magheru, and C. A. Rosetti.Murgoci et al., p. 25. See also Bădilă, p. 108 While these figures were forced into exile, a number of longer-term inmates from the revolutionary rank-and-file continued to populate Văcărești, with some 92 such political prisoners attested there in November 1849.Ion Burtoiu, "Revoluționari pașoptiști închiși în temnița mănăstirii Mărgineni", in Documenta Valachica, 1974, p. 179 Among them was a troupe of actors, including Costache Mihăileanu, who had staged nationalist plays, but also thespian Costache Halepliu, who had turned in his colleagues.George Franga, "Cu privire la... începuturile Teatrului Național Craiovean", in Ramuri, Vol. IX, Issue 11, November 1972, p. 18 Văcărești's political prisoners included Scarlat Turnavitu and his brother Ștefan. The latter was dispatched to after being diagnosed with tuberculosis, while Scarlat was moved between prison-monasteries until being ultimately pardoned in 1851.Octavian Ungureanu, "Revoluționari argeșeni de la 1848 — Frații Turnavitu", in Argeș, Vol. XXIII, Issue 4, April 1988, p. 6
Despite the change of regimes following the state-creation of 1859, the resulting Principality of Romania continued to employ Văcărești as a center for regular punishment and political repression. Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza made a point of using it uninterruptedly, with one popular legend suggesting that he did so specifically to punish the monks, whom he regarded as equal to the "thieves" who would end up sharing their lodgings. Defendants found guilty of press offenses against Cuza were held at the former monastery beginning in 1861. Examples include Radu Ionescu, N. T. Orășanu, and I. G. Valentineanu, as well as, in 1863, the poet Constantin D. Aricescu.Ion Hurdubețiu, Ion-Dan Constantinescu, "Un poet și un istoric cîmpulungean", in Luceafărul, Vol. XXVIII, Issue 8, February 1986, p. 6
The prison was only formalized as an institution in 1865,Muraru et al., p. 527 after the secularization of monastic estates. Cuza was however interested in improving conditions, having brought with him from Moldavia the prison reformer Ferdinand Dodun de Perrières, who went on to establish an industrial center at the former monastery. Staffed by the inmates themselves, it originally included a bakery and a large greenhouse, which provided flowers for the Bucharest markets. Workers were taught trades, and could preserve up to a third of the resulting profits.Ștefan (2006), p. 496 Cuza was ultimately deposed by the "monstrous coalition" in February 1866. His captors treated him with deference, and, before sending into exile, held him under watch in two spacious rooms of the prison complex.Vladislav Dunin, "Memoriile lui Vladislav Dunin asupra Domnieĭ luĭ Cuza-Vodă și Carol I-iŭ. (Urmare.) VII. Detronarea lui Cuza-Vodă", in Neamul Românesc, Issue 137/1908, p. 2180 His replacement, Carol I, visited the compound in October 1872, personally granting pardons and sentence reductions."Sciri din Intru", in Curierul de Iassi, 3 November 1872, p. 1 Carol did not interfere with the reformist agenda, and Dodun de Perrières kept his post until 1876.
Post-1866 growth During the 1870s, Văcărești was officially designated as a detention center for the entire Ilfov County, including the whole of Bucharest. It was also a place of triage, detaining prisoners whose cases were ongoing. Also held there were men sentenced to a maximum of five years and women, who lived in the former abbot's house, with sentences up to three months; those with longer terms were sent to Mislea Prison. Two doctors were hired in 1868, marking the start of medical care at the facility.Muraru et al., pp. 527–528 While the surrounding neighborhood was an independent village throughout the late 19th century, the prison's southern border was also regarded as Bucharest's outer limit, down to at least 1893.Murgoci et al., p. 9 By 1900, the area was served by its own highway, called Calea Văcărești and paved to exactly the prison gate. The near-adjacent mound known as Dealul Piscului only came to be settled by homesteaders after that date.Murgoci et al., pp. 12, 18–19