The Tower in Cernatesti, village Cernatesti, Dolj County

The "The Tower" in Cernatesti is a typical building for the Oltenia region. This type of buildings originated from Afghanistan and Iran. The tower is both a home and a fort built by small landowners in order to protect themselves from the many attacks from Turkish soldiers, which at that time / XVIII century / were located in Bulgaria and were crossing the Danube, leaving the barracks of the Ottoman Empire. Over the years this type of buildings has become a symbol of belonging to the class of landowners. The Chernateshti tower was built around the XVIII century by the boyar family Cernatesku.

Today the tower is in very good condition as a result of the underlying restoration and conservation activities over the past 20 years. Activities have been financed by local governments and by donations from one of the last survivors of the family Cernatescu, living in Belgium.

In the building of the Tower there is a museum part that holds archaeological, historical and ethnographic objects, documents and more. The tower is listed as part of the national cultural sites.