Museum of the Romanian Peasant
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The Museum of the Romanian Peasant (Romanian: Muzeul Ţăranului Român) is a museum in Bucharest, Romania, with a beautifully displayed collection of textiles (especially costumes), icons, ceramics, and other artifacts of Romanian peasant life. One of Europe's leading museums of popular arts and traditions, it was designated "European Museum of the Year" for 1996.
Located near Piaţa Victoriei, the museum falls under the patronage of the Romanian Ministry of Culture. Its collection includes over 100,000 objects.
The museum was founded February 5, 1990, a mere six weeks after the downfall and execution of Nicolae Ceauşescu. It occupies a building that, in the Communist era, housed a museum of the country's Communist party; the basement still contains a room devoted to an ironic display of some artifacts from that earlier museum.
It was devasted by the miners during the June 1990 Mineriad, since it was confused with the headquarter of the National Peasants' Party.
In 2002, exhibit space was considerably expanded, as the museum store and offices moved into a new building behind the old museum, freeing up more space for exhibits.
External links
- Official site of the museum (http://www.itcnet.ro/mtr/)
- Virtual tour of the museum (http://www.itcnet.ro/mtr/virtual_tour/tur_virtual.html)