Hanul cu Tei ("The

Linden tree ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they ...

Inn") is one of the few still standing old inns in central

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It was built in 1833 by Anastasie Hagi Gheorghe Polizu and Ştefan Popovici, on the trading street of

Lipscani Lipscani is a street and a district of Bucharest, Romania, which from the Middle Ages to the early 19th century was the most important commercial area of the city and Wallachia. It is located near the ruins of the old Princely Court built by Vla ...

. It was also called the ''Bezesten de pe Uliţa cea mare a Marchitanilor'' ("The Inn on the Wide Street of the Merchants"). It is the only historic inn in Bucharest that has preserved its shape exactly as it was at its origins. At its Blǎnari Street entrance, one can still see the original "seal" of the first owners ("A.P." and "S.P."). Each of the owners had 14 shops, located on top of deep, vaulted cellars. Only the pedestrian alley and guardian's room were of shared ownership. Important merchants of the time were hosted in this inn, including Constantin Atanasiu, who was to establish the store " La Vulturul de Mare cu Peştele în Ghiare" ("At the Sea Eagle holding a Fish in His Claws"), a building that still exists, hosting a bank nowadays, near the Cocor Store. Today, the former inn is home to many art galleries and a cellar bar. Its ornate, forged iron gates provide access from both

and Blǎnari streets. It also provides a good example the typical Wallachian glass-covered façade, as the upper floor is covered by glass panels.

References

* Radu Olteanu (2002). ''Bucureștii în date şi întâmplări'' ("Bucharest in facts and events"), Paideia Publishing House, Bucharest * Cristian Romano. "Iosif Romanov, librar, editor si tipograf din Bucuresti în prima jumatate a secolului al XIX-lea," in ''Anuarul arhivelor municipiului Bucuresti'', no. 1/1996, pp. 32–42. {{commons category, Hanul cu Tei 1833 establishments in Romania Bars and nightclubs in Bucharest Commercial buildings completed in 1833 Inns in Bucharest Lipscani