Romanit Palace is one of the oldest and most beautiful buildings in the city. It was built starting 1812 (by the boyar C. Faca) and was finished by the country’s treasurer at the time, Grigore Romanit (Romanet), borowing his name. It was part of the Bucharest city life for so long that we can find referrals to it all over history: it was used as the Ministry of Finance’s HQ or the ruler’s public relations office (the 19th century equivalent).
It now hosts one of the most interesting museums in the city, The Art Collections Museum. It was named like this because it houses 12.000 art pieces coming from 42 donated private collections. What makes it special is the way they’re grouped with separate rooms for each one, recreating the setup in which the owners built them. This offers a unique view into 19th and 20th century house setup of the Romanian aristocracy and bourgeoisie.
I love to visit it regularly because I make nice discoveries every time. Last time I was there I discovered an Arthur Verona painting I missed on my previous visits. Another great thing about this place is that I can see a not-so-famous, very wide array of works from well known Romanian painters like Tonitza, Grigorescu, Baba and many others. This helps me a lot in better understanding their work beyond the most famous and popular pieces.
