Social Events
Welcome Reception
The Welcome Reception will take place at Zăganu Craft Beer Bar, located at Calea Victoriei 91-93, on Bucharest’s most famous boulevard, in a modernist building designed by the celebrated interwar architect Horia Creangă. Opened in 2017 by the pioneers of Romanian craft brewing, the bar is the flagship of the Zăganu brewery, which has been producing unfiltered, all-natural beers since 2013 in a small brewery at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, in Măneciu-Ungureni. Named after the bearded vulture (zăgan), a majestic bird once native to the Carpathians and a symbol of freedom and strength, the bar champions Romania’s independent brewing scene: ten rotating taps and dozens of bottles showcase beers from the country’s more than 65 craft microbreweries, accompanied by hearty bistro-style dishes. Its relaxed, convivial atmosphere makes it the perfect setting to meet fellow participants and kick off the ESSIR week over a glass of authentic Romanian craft beer.
Gala Dinner
The Gala Dinner will be hosted at Hanu’ lui Manuc (Manuc’s Inn), the oldest operating inn in Bucharest and one of the most emblematic buildings of the Old Town. Built in 1808 by the wealthy Armenian merchant and diplomat Manuc Bei, the inn was designed in the style of an oriental caravanserai, with a large inner courtyard enclosed by two storeys of wooden galleries, arcades, and carved staircases. In its two centuries of existence it has served as a bustling trading post, a hotel, and even the stage of history: the preliminary negotiations of the 1812 Treaty of Bucharest, which ended the Russo-Turkish war, were held within its walls. Carefully restored, Hanu’ lui Manuc is today a beloved restaurant serving traditional Romanian cuisine, and its atmospheric courtyard, alive with music and lantern light on summer evenings.
Directions
Local Attractions
Bucharest, often called “The Little Paris of the East,” is a city of striking contrasts where elegant Belle Époque architecture stands alongside brutalist communist-era blocks. Whether you’re exploring grand boulevards, peaceful parks, or centuries-old churches, the Romanian capital offers a wealth of cultural and historical experiences within easy reach.
Palace of the Parliament (Palatul Parlamentului)
The Palace of the Parliament is the world’s heaviest building and the second-largest civilian administrative building after the Pentagon. Commissioned by dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and designed by architect Anca Petrescu, this colossal structure covers 365,000 square metres, boasts over 1,000 rooms, and features lavish interiors of marble, crystal chandeliers, and massive hand-woven carpets. Today it houses the Romanian Parliament, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, and a conference centre. Guided tours are available and offer an unforgettable glimpse into communist-era megalomania.
Romanian Athenaeum (Ateneul Român)
Opened in 1888 and designed by French architect Albert Galleron, the Romanian Athenaeum is one of Bucharest’s most beloved landmarks. This neoclassical concert hall, with its distinctive domed circular shape, is home to the George Enescu Philharmonic and hosts the internationally acclaimed George Enescu Festival. The building was famously funded in part by public subscription under the slogan “Dați un leu pentru Ateneu!” (“Donate one leu for the Athenaeum!”). It has been a European Heritage site since 2007.
Old Town (Centrul Vechi / Lipscani)
Bucharest’s Old Town is a vibrant labyrinth of cobblestone streets centred around the historic Lipscani area. Once the city’s main commercial district, it is now brimming with restaurants, cafés, bars, and artisan shops housed in beautifully restored 19th-century buildings. Highlights include the atmospheric Macca-Vilacrosse Passage, the stunning Caru’ cu Bere beer hall (built in 1879), and Hanu’ lui Manuc — the city’s oldest surviving inn. On warm evenings, the terraces come alive and you can truly appreciate why Bucharest earned its “Little Paris” nickname.
Cărturești Carusel
Regularly listed among the most beautiful bookshops in the world, Cărturești Carusel occupies a magnificently restored 1903 neoclassical building on Strada Lipscani in the heart of the Old Town. Originally built as the headquarters of the Chrissoveloni banking family, the building was confiscated during the communist era and left to decay for decades before being painstakingly restored and reopened in 2015. Today, its six luminous floors — connected by sweeping curved balconies, elegant columns, and ornamental stucco — house over 10,000 books (with a substantial English-language section), as well as albums, music, films, and design objects. A top-floor bistro serves excellent coffee and cakes beneath a stunning glass ceiling, making it the perfect spot to pause and take in the atmosphere.
Botanical Garden (Grădina Botanică „Dimitrie Brândza")
Founded in 1860 and bearing the name of Romanian botanist Dimitrie Brândza, the Bucharest Botanical Garden is a lush 18.2-hectare oasis in the Cotroceni neighbourhood, on the right bank of the Dâmbovița River. Administered by the University of Bucharest, the garden was relocated to its current site in 1884 and landscaped with the help of Belgian architect Louis Fuchs, while much of its present layout dates from a 1930s redesign by architect Octav Doicescu. Twelve thematic outdoor sectors — including a rosarium, a medicinal plants collection, an Asian flora section, and the charming “Grandma’s Garden” recreating a traditional Romanian cottage garden — showcase over 5,000 plant species, of which around 1,000 are exotic. The exhibition greenhouses shelter tropical orchids, bromeliads, tree ferns, and cacti, while the Botanical Museum, housed in a Brâncovenesc-style building, displays herbarium specimens, painted botanical illustrations, and seed collections. With its shaded alleys, tranquil lake, and beautifully restored interwar pavilion, the garden is a favourite retreat for Bucharesters and an ideal spot to unwind — especially in spring, when it bursts into colour.
Cotroceni Palace (Palatul Cotroceni)
Situated in the leafy Cotroceni neighbourhood in western Bucharest, Cotroceni Palace serves as the official residence of the President of Romania, while a significant portion of the complex is open to the public as the Cotroceni National Museum. The site has royal roots stretching back to the 17th century, when Prince Șerban Cantacuzino founded a monastery here. The current palace was built in the late 19th century for the Romanian royal family and blends neo-Romanian architectural elements with art nouveau interiors, featuring exquisite woodwork, painted ceilings, and period furnishings. Guided tours take visitors through the royal apartments and reception halls, offering a fascinating window into Romania’s monarchic past. The surrounding Botanical Garden — one of the largest in southeastern Europe — is also well worth a visit, especially in spring and summer.
Stavropoleos Monastery (Mânăstirea Stavropoleos)
Tucked away in the heart of the Old Town, Stavropoleos Church is one of Bucharest’s oldest and most exquisitely decorated churches. Built in 1724 in the Brâncovenesc architectural style, this small monastery features intricate stone carvings, an elegant loggia, and a peaceful inner courtyard that feels worlds away from the city’s bustle. The monastery also houses a notable collection of old religious books and icons, and is renowned for its Byzantine choral music.
Arch of Triumph (Arcul de Triumf)
Bucharest’s Arch of Triumph stands at the intersection of several major avenues in the northern part of the city, modelled after its more famous Parisian counterpart. The current granite structure, completed in 1936 and designed by architect Petre Antonescu, replaced earlier wooden versions that had been erected to celebrate Romania’s independence and the unification of its historical provinces. Standing 27 metres tall, the arch is adorned with sculptures by some of Romania’s most renowned artists, including Ion Jalea and Dimitrie Paciurea. Visitors can climb the interior staircase to reach an observation terrace at the top, offering panoramic views over Herăstrău Park and the surrounding boulevards.
Grigore Antipa National Museum of Natural History (Muzeul Național de Istorie Naturală „Grigore Antipa")
Founded in 1834 and named after the visionary biologist who directed it for over half a century, the Grigore Antipa Museum is one of Romania’s most prestigious scientific institutions. Housed in a neo-Gothic building designed by architect Grigore Cerchez near Piața Victoriei, the museum holds over two million specimens across 132 collections spanning zoology, palaeontology, geology, and ethnography. A major highlight is the world’s oldest set of biological dioramas — pioneered by Antipa himself in 1907 — which recreate ecosystems from the Carpathian Mountains, the Danube Delta, the African savannah, and beyond with remarkable realism. Other standout exhibits include the only complete skeleton of a Deinotherium gigantissimum (a prehistoric relative of the elephant), a walk-through cave with stalactites, fossils, and bat colonies, and a spectacular butterfly collection. Following a thorough $14 million renovation completed in 2011, the museum features modern interactive displays and multimedia installations that make it equally engaging for children and adults alike.
Herăstrău Park (Parcul Regele Mihai I)
Officially renamed King Mihai I Park, Herăstrău is Bucharest’s largest and most popular green space, stretching around a scenic lake in the northern part of the city. The park offers walking and cycling paths, boat rentals, open-air restaurants, and hosts the remarkable Village Museum (Muzeul Satului) — an open-air ethnographic museum showcasing over 300 authentic structures representing Romania’s diverse rural architectural traditions from every historical region of the country.
Village Museum (Muzeul Național al Satului “Dimitrie Gusti”)
Located within Herăstrău Park on the shores of the lake, the Village Museum is one of Europe’s oldest and largest open-air ethnographic museums. Founded in 1936 by sociologist Dimitrie Gusti, it spans over 100,000 square metres and features more than 300 authentic buildings — houses, churches, windmills, watermills, and workshops — relocated from villages across every historical region of Romania. Each structure has been carefully reassembled to preserve original construction techniques, from the wooden churches of Maramureș to the whitewashed homesteads of Oltenia. Walking through the museum feels like a journey across centuries of Romanian rural life, offering a vivid contrast to the urban energy of Bucharest just beyond the park’s tree line.
Spring Palace — Ceaușescu Mansion (Palatul Primăverii / Casa Ceaușescu)
Hidden behind high walls on one of Bucharest’s most exclusive residential streets, the Spring Palace was the private residence of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, his wife Elena, and their children from 1965 until the revolution of December 1989. Originally built as a protocol villa, it was lavishly expanded in the early 1970s by architect Aron Grimberg-Solari and has been open to the public as a museum since 2016. From the outside the mansion appears deceptively modest, but its 80 rooms reveal staggering opulence: silk wallpaper, Murano glass chandeliers and mirrors, gold-plated bathroom fixtures, hand-woven tapestries, and furniture spanning Renaissance, Baroque, Art Deco, and Louis XV styles. Underground, visitors discover a private cinema, an indoor swimming pool, a sauna, a physiotherapy clinic, and an exotic greenhouse. The guided tour — available in Romanian and English and requiring advance booking — offers a fascinating and deeply unsettling contrast between the extravagant lifestyle of the communist elite and the severe austerity endured by ordinary Romanians during the same era. Over the years, the mansion hosted world leaders including Charles de Gaulle, Richard Nixon, and Fidel Castro.
Museum of Recent Art (MARe — Muzeul de Artă Recentă)
Tucked away on Bulevardul Primăverii in one of Bucharest’s most upscale residential neighbourhoods, MARe is a striking contemporary art museum that opened its doors in 2018. Designed by Lebanese architect Youssef Tohme, the building is an architectural statement in itself — a modernist structure erected on a glazed glass base that lifts a reconstructed 1930s interwar villa above street level, simultaneously preserving and reimagining Bucharest’s architectural heritage. Spread across five levels and 1,200 square metres, the museum’s permanent collection of over 150 works focuses on Romanian art from the post-Stalinist era to the present day, while rotating temporary exhibitions bring in international artists spanning painting, photography, sculpture, and multimedia installations. MARe is deliberately more open and accessible than Romania’s traditional museum spaces, with a library, cultural event programming, and a welcoming atmosphere that invites dialogue between art and the city. It is a must for anyone interested in understanding Romania’s contemporary creative scene.
Revolution Square (Piața Revoluției)
Revolution Square earned its name from the dramatic events of December 1989, when Ceaușescu made his final, ill-fated public speech from the balcony of the former Central Committee building to a crowd that had turned against him. Today the square is home to a memorial honouring the victims of the revolution, the National Museum of Art (housed in the former Royal Palace), the Athenaeum, and the elegant Athénée Palace Hotel — a living chronicle of Bucharest’s turbulent 20th-century history.
Cișmigiu Gardens (Grădina Cișmigiu)
Dating back to 1847, Cișmigiu is Bucharest’s oldest public park and a cherished downtown oasis. Shaded pathways wind through formal gardens and wilder, more romantic areas, past a central lake where you can rent paddle boats in summer. The park also features a Writers’ Rotunda adorned with busts of Romanian literary figures and a charming chess area where locals gather for open-air games. It is the perfect spot for a relaxing stroll between sightseeing sessions.
Victory Avenue (Calea Victoriei)
Stretching 3 kilometres from Piața Victoriei in the north to the Dâmbovița River, Victory Avenue is Bucharest’s oldest and most elegant boulevard. Lined with grand 19th-century buildings, museums, luxury hotels, and boutiques, this historic artery passes landmarks including the George Enescu Museum, the National Museum of Art, and the CEC Palace. During summer weekends, the avenue is closed to traffic and transforms into a lively pedestrian promenade with street events, musicians, and outdoor terraces.
National Museum of Romanian History (Muzeul Național de Istorie a României)
Housed in the grand neoclassical building of the former Post Office Palace on Calea Victoriei, the National Museum of Romanian History is the country’s largest history museum. Its collections span from prehistoric times to the modern era, covering millennia of civilisation on Romanian soil. Among the most celebrated exhibits are the Romanian Crown Jewels, displayed in the basement treasury, and a full-scale plaster replica of the base of Trajan’s Column — the original of which stands in Rome and depicts the Roman conquest of Dacia in extraordinary narrative relief. The museum also holds the stunning Pietroasele Treasure, a collection of Gothic gold artefacts dating from the 4th century. Whether you are a devoted history enthusiast or simply curious about Romania’s rich past, this museum offers a compelling journey through the forces that shaped the nation.
Alexandru Ioan Cuza Park (Parcul IOR)
Known universally by Bucharesters as “Parcul IOR” or “Titan Park,” this expansive green space in eastern Bucharest is one of the city’s most popular parks among locals. Built in the 1960s around a large lake dotted with five small islands, the park offers shaded walking and cycling paths, playgrounds, tennis courts and pedal boat rentals. Artesian fountains and a small church add character to the landscape. While less known to tourists than Herăstrău or Cișmigiu, IOR Park provides a genuine glimpse into everyday Bucharest life — perfect for a relaxing afternoon away from the sightseeing circuit.
National Museum of Art of Romania (Muzeul Național de Artă al României)
Housed in the former Royal Palace on Revolution Square, the National Museum of Art is Romania’s foremost art institution. The building itself is a landmark — it served as the official residence of the Romanian royal family from 1837 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1947, and its neoclassical façade still dominates the northern side of the square. The museum’s collections are split into three major galleries: the Romanian Medieval Art Gallery, featuring religious icons and church artefacts; the Romanian Modern Art Gallery, showcasing works from the 19th and 20th centuries by masters such as Nicolae Grigorescu, Theodor Aman, and Gheorghe Tattarescu; and the European Art Gallery, which includes paintings by El Greco, Rembrandt, Monet, and Renoir. The opulent Throne Hall and other restored royal interiors are themselves worth the visit.
