Getting the best out of Bucharest
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Loading... - Darcy Lloyd
- 03 Jan 2022
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Bucharest rarely tops the city-break option list, but to ignore the capital of Romania is a mistake. The city is full of historic churches and excellent museums, and home to a collection of quirkier crowd-pullers, including the heaviest building in the world and the alleged gravesite of Vlad the Impaler, the notorious 15th-century Romanian ruler who was the inspiration for Dracula. Interested now?
Curtea Veche Church
Curtea Veche Church, otherwise known as the Annunciation Church of Saint Anthony, was founded in 1559 and is Bucharest's oldest church. It was built on the orders of Mircea Ciobanul, Prince of Wallachia, and is the location of his grave.
The Old Princely Court
Curtea Veche means in English the Old Princely Court. It was built as a palace during the rule of Vlad III, known as Vlad the Impaler and the inspiration for Bram Stoker's literary vampire Count Dracula. A bust of the notorious Romanian ruler is set in front of the excavated ruins.
National Museum of Romanian History
A centerpiece of cultural Bucharest, the National Museum of Romanian History is set in a handsome Neoclassical building, itself the former Postal Services Palace. The museum is one of the country's finest, and deserves a good few hours of your time.
Helmet of Coțofenești
The museum's 60-odd halls and rooms preserve a wealth of treasures, among them the embossed gold Helmet of Coțofenești, which dates back to the first half of the 4th century BCE.
Silver scepter
Another exhibit to look out for is this silver scepter in the shape of a man's head, dated back to the 4th century and the Dacians, the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains.
Crown jewels
The museum is home to the Romanian Crown Jewels. Included in the glittering collection is the golden Crown of Queen Elizabeth of Romania (pictured). The principal exhibit is the Steel Crown of King Carol I, which was forged in 1881 from the steel of a captured enemy cannon. Read More…
