If your roads take you in the beautiful Prahova, try to go to in Floreşti. The village that takes it's name after the gardens filled with flowers of former noblemen, hosts one of the unique buildings of Romania - Cantacuzino Palace or the Petit Trianon.
The building is hidding behind some old sycamores that seem to keep it from prying eyes. The beautiful garden that surrounds the castle was full of rare species of shrubs and it had even a swimming pool. At the border of the area is the water tower, which seemes to complete the landscape.
The palace was built between 1910-1916 by Grigore Cantacuzino, aka Nabob, because of his riches. The castle was a gift to Alice, the wife of his third son. The construction has the Frebch eclectic style with rococo and neoclassical elements. The palace had to have three uneven floors and 150 rooms. The name of Petit Trianon comes because architecturally is inspired by the palace of the same name in the gardens of Versailles, although the facade was more like the Grand Trianon. Unfortunately after the death of Grigore Cantacuzino, his son did not finished the construction.
Today the only thing that is left are the ruins of the first floor. This was possible mainly due to the thick walls. Time and two wars have left their mack, and people stoled everything they could from the beautiful building. As a kind of curse of fate the walls of the building are infested with Koch's bacillus, which slowly eats the stone.
However the construction still impresses everyone who sees it.
Cantacuzino property now belongs to the Cantacuzino Foundation that tries to rehabilitate and the first step is the organization of an annual horse races at the castle.