The country's largest, and most impressive art collection is housed inside the splendid former Royal Palace, first built in 1812 as a private home by the wealthy trader Dinicu Golescu. When his sons fell into financial ruin some years later, they were forced to sell the building to the state, which carried out huge modifications, adding a number of new wings. It became a royal residence in 1859, when it became the sight of the court of the first prince of the united principalities, Alexandru Ion Cuza. Although slightly remodelled in the 1930s, the building we see today is more or less the original, revolutionary damage notwithstanding. Indeed, some parts of the building have only recently been reopened after the mindless vandalism of those mad days in December 1989, when the building was ransacked by the iconoclastic mob, which saw the building (named the Palace of the Socialist Republic during the communist period) as a symbol of the regime.
   There are three permanent exhibitions, one on each of the three floors of the main building: Medieval Romanian Art,  featuring icons, carved altars, illustrated manuscripts and bibles, and fragments of frescoes; Modern Romanian Art, with all of Romania’s greatest 20th century artists well represented, including Theodor Aman, Constantin Brancuşi, Gheorghe Patraşcu, and Gheorghe Tattarescu; and European Paintings and Sculpture, which plays host to a fine collection of Old European Masters. The museum‘s Kreţulescu Wing plays host to increasingly daring and original exhibitions by contemporary European artists, as well as more traditional fodder. Essential.

Admission 8 lei for The Gallery of European Art, 10 lei for The National Gallery (Treasure included) and 15 lei for combined tickets (both galleries).