Little Blue Birdie's Diary

More interesting sites in Romania

Dear Diary,

After a fortnight, you must have been waiting for me to scribble something here, haven't you?

The journey we had last time was very interesting; we enjoyed ourselves and gained a lot of knowledge. Remember we visited only a few parts of Bucharest's attractions that time. Today, we have more interesting information to bring to you since we have now visited a few more places.

First of all, we flew to the Stavropoulos Church (Biserica Stavropoulos). It's a really beautiful building with great architecture. This small church is one of the most beautiful in the city.

It was built in 1724 during the rule of Phanariot Prince Nicolae Mavrocordat by the Greek monk Ioanichie. The church represents the Brancovenesc style which blends Ottoman and Western elements together with traditional Romanian architectural forms. The inside is equally beautiful, with wood and stone carvings and paintings and frescoes.

The next stop was the Cantacuzino Palace (Palatul Cantacuzino). This palace was designed by the architect, I.D. Berindei in French baroque style and construction started in 1899.

Above the main entrance, there is a giant shell-shaped porte-cochere; two stone lions guarding 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.

The next place we visited was the Museum of Romanian Peasant (Muzeul Taranului Roman). This was the winner of the European Museum of the Year Award for 1996. A short visit to the museum will convince you that the award is well deserved.

The collection includes 18,000 pieces of pottery and 20,000 examples of national dresses 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 handwritten 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 inspired by 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. Our last visit for the day was Manuc's Inn (Hanul lui Manuc). 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 buildings.

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 of the treaty in 1812 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 Ottoman Empire. Today, Manuc's Inn functions as a hotel-restaurant and wine cellar.

When we finished visiting these places, it was dark. So, even though we wanted to visit many other places, we had to go back. I'll provide more information on Romanian landmarks after more visits in the future.

Bye!

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