Romania’s National History Museum to undergo major restoration, modernization

The National History Museum of Romania, located in Bucharest, is set to undergo a major renovation under a total investment estimated at EUR 100 million. According to culture minister Raluca Turcan, the museum will become the second-largest consolidated and restored historical monument in Romania, after the Palace of Culture in Iași.

"The design for the consolidation, restoration, and modernization of the National History Museum of Romania begins! I signed the contract regarding the Approval Documentation of the Intervention Works for the rehabilitation of the National History Museum of Romania (MNIR). The investment is financed through a framework loan agreement between Romania and the Development Bank of the Council of Europe, intended for rehabilitating the built heritage and modernizing some cultural buildings in Romania," Turcan said in an announcement on social media.

The contract signed on Monday, October 21, was awarded following an open tender procedure and has a value of over EUR 1.2 million, without VAT.

The total investment at MNIR is estimated at EUR 100 million, the minister also said. Thus, the National History Museum will become the second largest consolidated and restored historical monument in Romania, with a total area of ​​32,000 sqm, after the Palace of Culture in Iași, where the investment made by the Project Management Unit within the Ministry of Culture was EUR 26.4 million.

The investment's goal is to enhance the value of the building by consolidating, conserving, restoring, rearranging functions, and refurbishing the entire construction. The aim is to expand the museum space, allowing the exhibition at high modern standards of the exhibits currently not on display and "a much more coherent, flexible and interesting museum route," minister Turcan said.

"The correction of the construction's current deficiencies, along with the expansion of the permanent exhibition, the endowment with the latest generation research and restoration equipment and laboratories, and the addition of related public spaces aim to place the National History Museum of Romania on the list of prestigious international museums," she added.

A landmark of Bucharest, the building on Calea Victoriei Avenue known as the "Palace of Post Offices" was inaugurated in 1903 in the presence of King Carol I and was the largest building in the country until the construction of the People's Palace in 1980. The city's Central Post Office operated in the building until 1970, when works were carried out to renovate and fit out the National History Museum of Romania, inaugurated in 1972.

Currently, MNIR is the largest museum in the country and one of the largest European museums, bringing together the most important archaeological discoveries and historical documents of Romania, according to Raluca Turcan.