The National History Museum of Romania, a representative Romanian cultural institution, a repository of the most valuable historical heritage artefacts, opened in 1972. The museum was established in the Post Palace, one of the most remarkable monuments of architecture in the capital, built in the neoclassical style by the architect Alexandru Săvulescu during the 19th century and restored between 1969 and 1970. The museum collections have 690,099 artefacts, including archaeological finds - 79,280, history items - 191,114, coins - 338.711, rare books - 755, and 80,239 stamps. The museum collections constantly grow due to donations, acquisitions and new archaeological finds. The collect...ion of metal and precious or semiprecious stones from the modern age of the history of Romania often reflects new preferences and tastes, prevailing trends of western decorative styles and manners. The exhibits reveal above all the historic value, their direct link to events and outstanding personalities of Romanian political life, including: personal belongings and authority tokens of Alexandru Ioan Cuza and King Charles I; the crowns of Queens Elisabeth and Mary; the sceptre worn by King Ferdinand, in October 1922, when he was crowned as sovereign of Greater Romania; the sceptre of King Charles II; the gold and platinum jewels with precious and semiprecious stones from the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. In a newly built building body there is the Lapidarium, comprising, on two levels, Greek, Roman and mediaeval monuments. The first level is reserved exclusively to the cast copy of Trajan’s Column, achieved at the scale 1:1 after the original Column in Rome. The cast copies are the work of Vatican craftsmen and was made between 1939 and 1943, and brought to Bucharest in 1967. The monument depicts the history of Trajan’s Dacian wars, waged between 101 - 102 and 105 - 106 AD. There are 2,500 figures on a frieze spanning about 200 m, grouped into 155 scenes. The socle of the Column sheltered the urn of Emperor Trajan and Empress Plotina. The upper level of this construction shelters various exhibits: honorific, funerary, juridical and votive monuments, statues as well as Hellenistic, Roman and mediaeval architectural pieces. The contemporary history department is under restoration, spanning five halls on the second floor of the museum. The museum owns goods listed in the National Cultural Heritage Treasure.
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