epidemic of 1795, when the two sons of Prince Alexander Mourousis took refuge in the largely uninhabited zone. The decision to replace the lake was taken in 1846, during a period of Imperial Russian administration introduced by Regulamentul Organic. It was based on an earlier proposal made by Russian governor Pavel Kiselyov in 1830, and on various small-scale works had first been undertaken in 1837. The initiative, countersigned by Prince Gheorghe Bibescu, was part of a series of major public works, and the plan dates back to 1844. On 27 February 1845, the area passed into public ownership through a princely decree. In 1843, Bibescu had called on experts in horticulture and planning to join in the effort to restructure the city gardens. As a result, two citizens of the German Confederation, the horticulturist Wilhelm Friedrich Carl Meyer and his assistant, the gardener Franz Hörer, arrived in Bucharest, where their first work involved the floral arrangements on each side of Șoseaua Kiseleff. They were to become involved in redesigning Dura area: Meyer was responsible for setting up the new lanes, for planting new floral species, as well as for setting up a Romantic landscape with rocks leading down to the lake. The central lake was connected to the Dâmbovița River through a canal. The gardens were ultimately inaugurated on 23 September 1847, and Meyer was appointed their administrator in 1848. The word cișmigiu comes from Turkish: a Ceșme is a public fountain and a cișmigiu (or cișmegiu) used to be the person responsible for building and maintaining public fountains. The name replaced older references to Dura, and was coined by the public because, at the time, the administrator of Bucharest fountains was living on park grounds, in a house located between the central lake and Sărindar quarter. Cișmigiu continued to be developed by Meyer long after its official inauguration: in 1870, the horticulturist laid out a plan to redesign the lanes, to introduce an artesian aquifer, and to create a kiosk for an orchestra. He also proposed to have gondolas carrying visitors over the lake. By 1851, new species of trees were brought in: chestnuts from Gorj County, walnuts from Dâmbovița County, and other plants from places such as Vienna and Brașov. At the same time, the lanes were reinforced with debris from the ruins of Curtea Nouă and Zlătari area. Works were completed despite Meyer's sudden death as a