National Bank of Romania Palace

Look first at the street you are standing on. Lipscani comes from Lipsca, the Romanian name for Leipzig: this is where merchants sold the cloth and hardware they brought back from the German fairs. For centuries it was the street of trade and money, so it is no accident that the country's central bank settled right here.

1A new country needs a bank

In 1859 Moldavia and Wallachia elected the same prince, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, and in 1862 Bucharest became the capital of the united principalities, by then called Romania. The leu was born as the national currency in 1867, independence was recognised in 1878, and on 29 April 1880 the National Bank of Romania was founded.

2The palace

The bank commissioned its headquarters from two French architects, Cassien Bernard and Albert Galleron, the latter also the designer of the Romanian Athenaeum. The foundation stone was laid on 12 July 1884 and the work was finished in 1890. The plot was no ordinary one: this was the site of the inn built by Prince Șerban Cantacuzino at the end of the 17th century.

The result is an eclectic building with neoclassical touches, designed to project solidity. Between 1942 and 1944 a new wing was added on Strada Doamnei, designed by Ion Davidescu, with huge Corinthian columns and halls lined in white marble.

In just a few years Bucharest went from capital of an Ottoman principality to capital of a state with its own bank, currency and king.

3What to look for

• The stone façade, with columns and tall French-style windows.
• The domed corner, visible from far down Lipscani.
• The contrast between the palace and the low merchants' houses on the same street.