The Village Museum, situated on the banks of Herăstrău Lake, exemplifies the diversity of Romania’s architecture and folk art. Officially named “Dimitrie Gusti” National Village Museum, the institution exhibits 338 traditional buildings from all parts of Romania, comprising the most valuable traditional architecture elements from all the regions in Romania. Houses, workshops, churches and windmills were disassembled and relocated to Bucharest, where they were reassembled inside the museum.
Representative for Maramureș is the church from Dragomirești, dating from 1722, which dominates the museum with its high wooden steeple. The Moldavian wooden house from Zăpodeni is the oldest monument in the museum, contemporary with the greatest Romania medieval chroniclers (17th century). The architectural style from Dobrogea is represented by the imposing windmills and the Lipovan house from Jurilovca. The museum also displays picturesque cottages and the beautiful house from the village of Chiojd, the symbol present on the 10 lei bank note, representative for Wallachia, and the stone masonry house from Sârbova village, illustrating the architectural style found in Banat. The oldest building dates from the 17th century, while the most recent belongs to the 19th century.
In the 1930s, in Europe existed only two open-air museums, to which it was added the Ethnographical Museum of Transylvania in Cluj-Napoca, founded in 1929. The Village Museum in Bucharest was founded in 1936 in the Herăstrău Park, being one of the first open-air ethnographic museums in Romania and in the world. The official opening took place on May 10th, in the presence of King Carol II.
In a short period of time, experts in ethnography from Bucharest purchased houses, annexes, churches, technical installations and indoor objects (furniture, ceramics, textiles, tools and others) considered to be representative for all the Romanian regions. In reassembling the constructions, they brought masters from the villages where the monuments had been taken from. The arrangement of the monuments was made after a plan that reproduces the map of Romania, by grouping them taking into account the geographical closeness of the origin villages, in sectors representing the country’s main regions.
Visiting hours
Open-air exhibition:
Monday – Sunday: 9:00 – 17:00
“Gheorghe Focșa” Exhibition Hall:
Monday, Tuesday – closed
Wednesday – Sunday: 9:00 – 17:00
Ticket price
Adults: 6 lei
Seniors and Euro 26 card holders: 3 lei
Pupils and students: 1.5 lei
Contact:
+40. 021.317.91.03
+40. 021.317.91.06
+40. 021.317.91.10
+40. 021.319.25.36
0720.220.132
Tel./fax: +40 021.317.90.68
How to get there:
By car: From Henri Coandă International Airport, take Calea Bucureştilor and then go straight following Şoseaua Bucureşti-Ploieşti and Şoseaua Kiseleff. When you reach the Triumphal Arch, return on Şoseaua Kiseleff in the opposite direction. Approximate travel time is 16min.
By metro: Get off the metro at the Aviatorilor station and take a 15min walk to the museum.
By bus: Take bus #783 from Universitate or Piața Romană.
The Village Museum Website