The Old Town: merchants, inns and Lipscani

About The Old Town: merchants, inns and Lipscani

By the ULTIMATE Bucharest Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

The Old Town, Centrul Vechi, is where Bucharest began: around the princely court of Wallachia, merchants and craftsmen settled in streets named after their trades, and great inns sheltered caravans from across the Balkans and the Orient.

The princely court

The Old Princely Court, Curtea Veche, was the seat of the princes of Wallachia, and Bucharest is first mentioned in a document of 1459 signed here by Vlad III, the prince remembered as Vlad the Impaler.

Streets of trades

Around the court, streets took the names of the trades practised there: Șelari (saddlers), Blănari (furriers), Covaci (smiths). Lipscani was named after the merchants who brought goods from Leipzig, Lipsca in Romanian.

Lipscani is named after Leipzig, where its merchants bought their goods.

The inns

Great inns, hanuri, built around courtyards, sheltered traders and their goods. Hanul lui Manuc, built in 1808, survives, as does Hanul Gabroveni, now a cultural centre.

Lipscani today

Today the Old Town is the city’s busiest nightlife quarter, but its architecture repays a daytime walk: Stavropoleos Monastery, the CEC Palace, the Macca-Villacrosse passage and the marvellous Cărturești Carusel bookshop.

Our advice: explore the Old Town in the morning, when it is quiet, visiting Stavropoleos, Carusel and Hanul lui Manuc, and come back after dark for the bars. Watch your belongings in crowded streets.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The Old Town: merchants, inns and Lipscani before you go.