Antipa Museum

“Pale corpses in formalin jars, stuffed beings, glass eyes bearing traces of visible seams, all this necropolis of Antipa Museum seems to me like a bundle of dreams in the ordinary core of the Cosmos” - Mircea Cartarescu - Twins, in Nostalgia volume.

At the end of Twins novella (“Gemenii” in Romanian), one of most beautiful romance stories in Romanian literature, the characters walk along the fabulous decor of Antipa Museum. They get there through a secret passage and the museum becomes a strange, magical place, where Andrei and Gina, the main characters, make love or the first time. When they awake, they realize they have exchanged bodies. The museum exhibits come alive. Antipa Museum is the type that inspires such stories, strange feelings, phantasms, even reflexions and lyrical states. 

Delighted, Gina stopped in front of the exotic butterflies, which appeared to her in her dreams (since then, I have dreamed of colorful, giant butterflies) and showed me some exhibits with wings larger than a human hand, colored in electric blue or pale yellow. – Mircea Cartarescu

In 1834, by princely decree, Bucharest National Museum is built. It took a while to get to the state we see it today because the museum’s collections moved from Sf. Sava College to buildings bought by School’s Council, in the Academy Palace, in the University of Bucharest building, then in Porumbacu house on Polona street.



At the beginning of the 20th century, the construction of the current building in Piata Victoriei starts, under the lead of Mihail Rocco engineer. The front part is designed by architect Grigore Cerchez. The new building of the museum was opened on May 24, 1908, in the presence of king Carol I, queen Maria and prince Ferdinand. Sixteen halls were open on that date, the other eleven were inaugurated in 1914.




The name and history of the museum is closely tied to Grigore Antipa, the director of the institution for… 51 years, starting with 1893. He structured the museum, built up the collections, proposed to the government to build “a proper building for the Museum of Natural History. On May 23, museum’s 100th anniversary, by Carol II’s decree, the institution received the name of Museum of Natural History “Grigore Antipa”.



In the 40’s, the museum was damaged by earthquakes and WWII bombings, but was renovated and opened by 1949. In 1957, two new wings are added. The famous ’77 earthquake also damaged the building. The museum opened again that November, and the renovations were done in 1996. For details in Romanian, click here.



"We came to our senses staring and giggling at the dioramas of primitive, black people that were stunted and naked around a fire.” - Mircea Cartarescu



Now that we covered the history of the museum, let’s talk a little bit about the present. What can we see at Antipa? The first impression is of a zoo turned to stone. Stuffed animals are placed in a wannabe habitat. You expect them to start moving anytime behind the protective glass.


The main attraction is the Deinotherium gigantissimum skeleton, aged some million years, discovered in a village from Vaslui county. Although the skeleton fell during 1977 earthquake, but the restoration was successful. Just imagine meeting that in the forest.. :)

Two meters above our heads the yellowish ribs just started to be seen, together with the dull spinal column bones and the head so big that it would have fitted both our bodies. Between monster’s thick feet, we watched the screws and canes that kept it standing. The giant with clay feet. - Mircea Cartarescu

Containing an impressive number or exhibits, Antipa Museum takes us through all areas of the world and helps us imagine how the world looked millions of years ago. From mollusks to birds, from snakes to fish, from meteorites to fluorescent rocks, from humans to monkeys, from exact replicas to well-preserved skeletons, all we see in Antipa is diversity.



Although it’s a pleasant visit, the arrangement of the museum is pretty complicated. The exhibits are too close to each other, and the presentations are.. too classic and hard to understand. We enjoyed most the replica of a cave and we think that this type of arrangement is more suitable than putting stuffed animals behind glass windows.


Rooms full of monsters. Demons and pale-fleshed angels, conserved in formalin jars. Is it nausea or death that’s coming?” - Mircea Cartarescu.

More photos in the Galery

Antipa Museum

Address: Sos Kiseleff 1
Telephone no: 021/ 312-88-63; 021/ 312-88-26

Opened:
We-Fri 10:00 - 19:00
Sat, Sun: 10:00 - 20:00

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