Attractions

The Village Museum (Muzeul Satului)
Address. 28th-30th Kisellef Street

The Village Museum was established in 1936 and it contains over 300 wooden houses, windmills, churches etc from all over the country.

If you don't plan to visit Romania's rural areas - and even if you do - you shouldn't miss this museum which is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. Many of the buildings are originals which were brought here in pieces and reassembled.

The oldest houses date as far back as the 17C. Behind the project from the start was ethnographer Dimitrie Gusti (1880 - 1955) who wanted the museum to mirror as closely as possible the aspects of the rural life. Because of this the museum is organized as a real village, with clusters of houses being linked by winding paths.

This makes for a pleasant stroll especially if you find yourself in Bucharest during the summer, when the city is hot and dusty. Sometimes the museum hosts crafts fairs and folk music and dance festivals.

National Art Museum (former Royal Palace)
Address. 49th-53th Calea Victoriei Street

The imposing building which used to be the Royal Palace is located in the Revolution Square (Piata Revolutiei), in the northwestern corner. It was first built around 1815 by prince Dinicu Golescu and it underwent changes over several decades.

The building was remodeled in 1882-1885 after plans by the French architect Paul Gottereau only to be rebuilt in 1930-1938 after being damaged in a fire in 1926. Starting with 1948 the palace houses the National Art Museum and it displays an extensive collection of Romanian and European art dating from the 15th to the 20th century.

The building was damaged during the events of December 1989 and was closed for several years for repairs.

The Parliament Palace (Palatul Parlamentului)
Address. Unirii Blvd

Many old beautiful buildings were demolished to make way for this „monstrosity”. This building is a big tourist attraction in Bucharest (the second largest building in the world in terms of surface, competing with the Pentagon in size).

The rooms are the biggest you will ever seen in your life. The building is now used as the parliament house as well as for conferences and exhibitions and can be visited by guided tours.

Cantacuzino Palace (Palatul Cantacuzino)
Address. 141th Calea Victoriei Street

This palace was designed by the architect I.D.Berindei in French baroque style and construction was started in 1899. Above the main entrance there is a giant shell-shaped porte-cochere; two stone lions guard the entrance. George Enescu - Romania's national composer - lived here for a period of time.

The building belonged to his wife Maria Cantacuzino. In fact Enescu preferred a life of simplicity and he and his wife chose to live in a smaller town house that previously housed the administrative staff of the palace; this house is located behind the main palace.

Nowadays the palace houses the George Enescu Museum which displays the musicians manuscripts (scores of his compositions) and personal belongings like one of his first violins.

Manuc's Inn (Hanul lui Manuc)
Address. 64th Franceza Street

Manuc's Inn is the best preserved of Bucharest's old inns. It was built around 1808 to shelter travelling merchants. The inn is also one of Bucharest's historical building.

Its owner, an influential Armenian called Emanuel Marzaian (better know as Manuc Bey hence the name of the place) offered the building for the signing in 1812 of the treaty that ended the Russo-Turkish war and resulted in the gain of Bessarabia by Russia.

The treaty is known as the Treaty of Bucharest (1812). The building has the two tier galleries featured by the caravanserais that were common all over the Otoman Empire. Today, Manuc's Inn functions as a hotel-restaurant and winecellar.

The Old Court (Curtea Veche)
Address. 23th-31th Franceza Street

The oldest part of Bucharest lies around The Old Princely Court (Curtea Veche) at the end of Str. Franceza. Archaeologists believe that this area was inhabitated long before the 14th century because of pieces found here. But this area's time of glory came in the 15th century when the reigning prince of Wallachia, Vlad the Impaler built his fortress here.

Vlad's followers (like Price Mircea Ciobanul - Mircea the Shepherd which ruled between 1545-52 and his successors between 1545-59 who also built the nearby church) continued the add to the building, rebuilding, fortifying and modifying the fortress to their needs.

After almost 4 centuries, in the 18th century the building was left to ruins and the rulers of Wallachia moved to the New Court in Dealul Spirii. A museum was founded in 1972 when the archaeological diggings revealed the remains of the fortress. All that is left today is truncated pieces of wall and a few arcades.

Museum of Romanian Peasant (Muzeul Taranului Roman)
Address. 3th Kiseleff Street

The Museum of Romanian Peasant is the winner of the European Museum of the Year Award for year 1996. A short visit to the museum will convince you that the award is well deserved. The collection includes 18000 pieces of pottery and 20000 examples of national dress from all over the country, as well as carpets, icons, furniture, photographs and films documenting the customs of rural life. But what makes it special is the way the collection is arranged; the museum looks more like an art gallery than a museum.

The display information is hand written on pieces of paper or illustrated by freehand sketches. In one of the galleries you can see a wooden church and in another a wooden peasant house. They also have some beautiful "troite" (crosses placed at crossroads or at the edge of a village).

The museum building has an interesting story as well. The museum was founded in 1905 under the name of Ethnographical and National Art Museum. In 1906 Carol I laid the foundation for the present building; the construction was stopped in 1916 and restarted in 1932.

It was completed only in 1935, 29 years after it was started. The red-brick building is an illustration of the neo-Romanian style ispired from the traditional architecture. In 1953, the communists "liberated" the building and sent the collection away to another location. The building was turned into a museum dedicated to the history of the Communist Party. In 1990 the museum returned to its old location.