The Village Museum: The Rural Heart of Bucharest
Diana Condrea
Bucharest Village Museum is included in our Bucharest City Tour.
Bucharest Village Museum is one of those few places that take us back to the past and inspire us to appreciate it more. Located in one of the capital’s most beautiful parks, this is also one of the first open-air ethnographic museums in the world.
A long visit to the Village Museum is for sure one of the best things to do in Bucharest.
House from Apuseni Mountains
This must-see museum recreates the past three centuries of the Romanian village, offering an almost surreal experience in urban Bucharest. The Village Museum showcases over 300 unique peasant homes, tens of thousands of objects, and artisanal installations. All were moved from their original location and rebuilt according to traditional techniques, including watermills, oil presses, fountains, roadside crucifixes, and churches.
Originating from all over Romania, they offer a rare opportunity to easily compare the architectural diversity across the country.
The short yet eventful history of the Bucharest Village Museum
Opened in 1936, after 10 years of fieldwork, the museum’s existence is the result of decades of efforts to protect rural heritage. It carries the name of its founder, Professor Dimitrie Gusti, one of the most notable Romanian personalities.
House detail
In the first stage, ethnographers moved 29 houses from all over the country, including water mills and windmills. Despite its promising beginnings, the museum faced, however, difficult times during WW2 when it hosted war refugees. Even harsher times followed during communism when destroying the traditional village was a main ideological objective. Still, the museum survived, adding new elements to its collection and saving the story of centuries of rural creation.
Today, you can easily spend a few hours discovering pieces of rural Romania and the creative soul of the Romanian peasant.
House detail
Travel tips
The museum hosts many traditional fairs with a rich display of traditional food and crafts.
The museum shop is one of the best places to buy authentic and hand-made souvenirs.
Don’t miss lunch in the historic inn located inside the museum.
Read more about the museum on www.muzeul-satului.ro
