Manuc's Inn

The oldest working inn in Bucharest, Manuc's Inn is a galleried Ottoman-era caravanserai wrapped around a large courtyard in the heart of the old Lipscani quarter. Its wooden verandas and shaded inner yard offer a rare surviving glimpse of the merchant city that existed before Bucharest reinvented itself in a French mould.

It was built in 1808 by Manuc Bei, a wealthy Armenian trader and diplomat, as a han, a fortified inn where caravans of merchants could lodge, store goods and trade. The two-storey building encloses a courtyard on all sides, with open timber galleries running around the upper floor above cellars and storerooms below, a classic layout of the Ottoman commercial world. It later hosted a key episode of European diplomacy when negotiations around the 1812 Treaty of Bucharest took place on the premises.

The inn has been in near-continuous use for two centuries, weathering fires, earthquakes and restorations while keeping its essential form. Today the courtyard holds restaurants and cafes serving Romanian food, and the galleries shelter tables beneath the old wooden balustrades, so the building still functions much as intended, as a place to eat, drink and gather.

For visitors it is both a monument and a meal. The courtyard can be entered freely to admire the architecture, and stopping for a coffee or a traditional dish is the easiest way to experience the interior. It sits directly opposite the ruins of the old princely court, Curtea Veche, and within the pedestrian tangle of Lipscani, so it anchors a walk through the historic centre. Evenings, when the galleries fill and lanterns light the yard, capture its atmosphere best, though it can be busy with tour groups at peak times.