The Chira Chiralina Cultural and Leisure Center (Centrul Cultural și de Agrement „Chira Chiralina”) is a municipal cultural institution housed in the historic Petre Ștefănescu-Goangă House on Polygon Square in Brăila. The restored nineteenth-century residence serves as a venue for concerts, exhibitions, literary gatherings, and other cultural activities, while a small memorial display commemorates the Romanian opera singer who grew up there.
The Neoclassical house was built in the late nineteenth century and originally belonged to painter Petre Alexandrescu, who had settled in Brăila after being commissioned to decorate the Saint Nicholas Church. He married Athena Rally, whose family owned the nearby Rally Theater, and their daughter Cecilia inherited the house together with her husband, lawyer Gheorghe Ștefănescu-Goangă, around the turn of the century. Their son Petre (1902-1973) spent his childhood here before pursuing a career in opera, eventually becoming one of Romania’s leading baritones and a professor at the Bucharest Conservatory.
After a period of deterioration, the house underwent extensive restoration between 2011 and 2013, preserving its Neoclassical architecture while adapting the interiors for cultural activities. It reopened in July 2013 as the headquarters of the Brăila Municipal House of Culture, with a memorial exhibition dedicated to Petre Ștefănescu-Goangă. The institution itself had been established in 1968 and had previously operated from several other locations around the city.
In 2025, the Municipal House of Culture was reorganized as the Chira Chiralina Cultural and Leisure Center, named after the character from Panait Istrati’s novel Kyra Kyralina. Its headquarters contain two event halls seating approximately 60 and 30 people, used for small concerts, choral and folk performances, poetry recitals, theatrical productions, book launches, historical lectures, and temporary art exhibitions. These activities follow a changing program, with the historic rooms generally accessible during scheduled events.
The center’s work also extends beyond the house through cultural festivals, competitions, and recreational activities organized elsewhere in Brăila. Its programs include folk music, choral singing, literary humor, and epigrams, while its leisure operations encompass tourist cruises on the Danube aboard the vessels Lacu-Sărat and Chiralina.
