Hanul cu Tei ("The

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

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

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It was built in 1833 by Anastasie Hagi Gheorghe Polizu and Ștefan 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 Curtea Veche, old Princely Court ...

. It was also called the ''Bezesten de pe Ulița 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 Blănari 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 peștele 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. BUCMosilorLaVulturulDeMare

Today, the former inn is home to many art galleries and a cellar bar. Its ornate, forged iron gates provide access from both

and Blănari 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 și întâmplări'' ("Bucharest in facts and events"), Paideia Publishing House, Bucharest * Cristian Romano. "Iosif Romanov, librar, editor și tipograf din București în prima jumatate a secolului al XIX-lea," in ''Anuarul arhivelor municipiului București'', no. 1/1996, pp. 32–42. {{commons category, Hanul cu Tei 1830s establishments in Romania 1833 establishments in Europe Commercial buildings completed in 1833 Inns in Bucharest Lipscani 19th-century architecture in Romania