The Palace of Culture is located in the Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt (Stephan the Great and the Saint) Square, no. 1, downtown Iași, the heart of Moldavia region of Romania.
From Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am and 17 pm. It is closed during legal holidays in Romania.
* opening hours may vary, they are just for guidance
Full ticket: 40 Lei
Pensioner ticket: 20 Lei
Student ticket: 10 Lei
Free pass for kids under 7 years of age
1 Free ticket for every group of 10 persons
Foreign language tour guide per museum: 40 Lei requires appointment at tel. 0232 275979 interior 129)
The maximum group size for a tour is 25 persons.
* visiting taxes may vary, they are just for guidance
Originally designed to match the communal palaces of West Europe, the Palace of Culture in Iași is a great combination of multiple architectural style, including neo-gothic, romantic and neo-baroque styles.
The palace is a great representation of the old architectural style of the capital city of Moldavia region, and it has managed to assert itself as a veritable effigy in the city’s scenery. Built between 1906 and 1925, this mighty construction had a totally different purpose at the beginning, and it served as the Palace of Justice and Administration up until 1955, when it was turned into an arts palace.
Today, the Palace of Culture of Iași hosts not just 1, but 4 national renowned museums, namely Moldavia’s History Museum (1916), The Ethnographic Museum of Moldavia (1943), The Arts Museum (1860) and the Science and Technology Museum “Ștefan Procopiu” (1955).
The 55 meters tall central tower was the reason why the palace was considered the tallest building in the city back in the days. Besides its architectural splendor and grandeur, the palace was distinguished by its modern technical equipments and installations for that era ordered from Germany. The neo-gothic style furniture was made to order by the famous Albert Goumain Parisian studio and the Maple’s of England.
Besides the 4 museums, other tourist attraction are a few very interesting halls. The “Gothic Hall” is housing an extraordinary medieval bestiary where you will see griffins, double-headed eagles, lions and other mighty creatures.
At the first floor of the palace there is another interesting room, the “Voievode Hall” with medieval fresco style portrets of Moldavia’s former rulers and lords, from Dacia’s Decebal king to king Carol the 2nd of Romania. The monumental marble chimney decorated with a bas-relief depicting a historical tree of Moldavia’s former rulers is another thing to see here.
The Palace’s clock that watches over the city from the central tour plays the “Union Hora” song played by 8 perfectly tuned bells that compose the carillon’s mechanism, located on the 4 th floor of the tower. The song represents the hymn that celebrates the unification of the three geographical and historical Romanian-language speaking principalities, Moldavia, Transylvania and Wallachia back in 1859, into what we now know as Romania.
Visited by thousands of tourists every year, the Palace of Culture of Iași is definitelly one of the most amazing sites to see in the city.