National Museum of Romanian History, Bucharest, Guida per visitatori e cosa fare nei dintorni

The National Museum of Romanian History is Romania's main museum of national history, housed in the former Postal Palace at Calea Victoriei 12 in Bucharest. It is best known for a full-size plaster cast of Trajan's Column and for its treasury of gold and jewels, and it sits on one of the city's oldest and busiest avenues.

The story behind it

The building was not made as a museum. It was raised in the 1890s as the Postal Palace and finished around 1900, in a neoclassical style meant to show off the young kingdom's ambitions. It became the national history museum in the 1970s. The street outside has its own story: Calea Victoriei, or Victory Road, was renamed in 1878 to mark Romania's War of Independence, and it was once known as Podul Mogoșoaiei.

Inside, the museum tells the story of the land from prehistory onward, and the Roman chapter is the one most visitors remember. The emperor Trajan fought two wars to conquer Dacia, and to move his army over the Danube he had the architect Apollodorus of Damascus build a great bridge, finished around 105 AD. Rome celebrated the victory for 123 days, and the conquest was carved on Trajan's Column in Rome. The cast of that column here lets you read those scenes up close. Dacia's language gave way to Latin, and Romanian is still a Romance language today.

Directly opposite stands the CEC Palace, home of Romania's oldest bank, founded in 1864 under Alexandru Ioan Cuza. The palace was designed by the French architect Paul Gottereau and completed in 1900. It stands on the site of the old monastery of Sfântul Ioan cel Mare, which Constantin Brâncoveanu rebuilt in stone in 1712 and which was demolished in 1875.

What to look for

• The stately front of the former Postal Palace, with its stone detail and symmetrical wings facing Calea Victoriei.
• The plaster cast of Trajan's Column inside, whose spiral of carved scenes tells the story of the Dacian wars.
• The glass dome and grand stonework of the CEC Palace across the street, a good contrast with the museum's own facade.
• The avenue itself, where nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century buildings line the pavement in both directions.

Tips for your visit

• Allow about one to two hours inside, and a few more minutes outside to look at both the museum and the CEC Palace.
• Check current opening hours and which halls, including the treasury, are open before you go.
• Go in the morning for a quieter visit and softer light on the facades.
• The Old Town is a short walk away, so the museum pairs easily with a stroll through the streets nearby.

See it on a quest

The Beer Trail of Bucharest brings you here on foot as one stop on a longer route through the centre. The app tells you about each place as you arrive and sets a puzzle in what is in front of you. One ticket covers the whole group.

Secrets of Old Town Bucharest: The Lost Treasure Adventure is a good way to link this stretch of Calea Victoriei with the old streets around it. You walk between the stops, hear the stories as you reach them and solve a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.

The Haunting File: Bucharest - What the City Lost suits a street where monasteries, inns and old buildings have come and gone. You reach the place on foot, the app explains what you are looking at, and a puzzle makes you look closely. One ticket covers the whole group.