Old Princely Court (Curtea Veche)

In front of you are the ruins of the place where Bucharest's written history begins. These brick walls, arches and vaulted cellars are what remains of the Curtea Veche, the Old Court: the palace of the princes of Wallachia.

1The document of 1459

On 20 September 1459, Prince Vlad III signed a document here in Slavonic, the language of the Wallachian chancery, dated at the «fortress of Bucharest». It is the oldest surviving written mention of the city, which is why historians treat it as Bucharest's birth certificate. At the time Vlad had a small stronghold by the Dâmbovița river, on a plain crossed by trade routes.

2Four centuries of court life

Later princes enlarged the palace. Mircea Ciobanul rebuilt it in the mid-16th century and in 1559 raised the church next door, the oldest in Bucharest to keep its original appearance. At the end of the 17th century Constantin Brâncoveanu rebuilt it in stone, with a grand marble staircase. Around it grew the merchants' quarter, today's Lipscani.

The end came with the Phanariots, the Greek princes appointed by Istanbul: in 1775 Alexandru Ipsilanti moved the court to a new palace on Spirii Hill, and in 1798 what was left of the Old Court was sold at auction. The ruins lay buried under houses and shops until excavations began in 1953.

Bucharest grew up around a palace; today that palace is a brick skeleton in the middle of the Old Town.

3What to look for

• The vaulted cellars, the best-preserved part of the palace.
• The bust of Vlad III, by the sculptor Dumitru Pasima.
• The Old Court Church, with its alternating bands of brick and stone.