National Museum of Romanian History

The National Museum of Romanian History is located at 12 Calea Victoriei, in central Bucharest, inside the former Post Office Palace, built between 1894 and 1899 to designs by architect Alexandru Săvulescu, inspired by the Federal Post Office building in Geneva. The neoclassical building, with a portico supported by Doric columns, housed Bucharest's central post office until 1970, when it was converted into a history museum, officially opened on 8 May 1972. The museum's collections total over 690,000 objects, spanning periods from the Paleolithic to contemporary times. Its most valuable section is the Historical Treasury, with over 3,000 pieces in precious metals and stones, including the famous "Hen with Golden Chicks" discovered at Pietroasa in 1837, the Dacian gold bracelets from Sarmizegetusa, and the royal family's crowns. In the interior courtyard, inside a modern hall with a star-shaped roof, stands the Copy of Trajan's Column, a full-scale replica made in Rome between 1939 and 1943 and brought to Romania only in 1967. The museum also includes the Lapidarium, with 165 ancient and medieval epigraphic and sculptural monuments. The building's structure was damaged by the 1940 and 1977 earthquakes, and major reinforcement work only began in 2002; as a result, only part of the collection is on permanent display. It is reached by metro to Universitate or Piața Unirii stations, or by tram and bus lines along Calea Victoriei. Worth visiting for its exceptional archaeology and ancient numismatics collections, unmatched in Southeastern Europe.