Manuc's Inn (Hanul lui Manuc)

Manuc's Inn, known in Romanian as Hanul lui Manuc, is a large courtyard inn on Strada Franceza in the Old Town of Bucharest, Romania, across the street from the ruins of the Old Princely Court. It was built in 1808 by Emanuel Marzaian, an Armenian merchant and diplomat better known as Manuc Bei, who served Ottoman, Russian and Wallachian interests during the Russo-Turkish war of 1806-1812. The inn is associated with the negotiations that preceded the Treaty of Bucharest of 1812, by which the Ottoman Empire ceded Bessarabia to Russia, and Manuc himself is said to have hosted diplomats here. At the time of construction it was among the largest commercial buildings in the Balkans, with dozens of rooms, a ground-floor level of stables, shops and storerooms, and an upper level of guest rooms ringed by a wooden gallery. The architecture combines Ottoman caravanserai planning with Wallachian and Brancovan details: carved wooden balustrades, a central courtyard with a fountain, and a long arcaded ground floor. After Manuc's death in 1817 the inn passed to new owners, and later served as a hotel, a law court, a market and a venue for events in the 19th and 20th centuries. The building was restored in the 1960s and again in the 1990s and 2000s; the current structure retains the original layout and now houses a hotel, restaurants, cellars and cafes. Few original objects remain on display, so the appeal lies in the architecture and atmosphere rather than a museum collection. Visitors can walk freely into the courtyard, look up at the galleries and sit at terrace tables in warm months, while the cellar restaurant and traditional Romanian dishes draw both tourists and locals. Because it is a working commercial property, the interior is mainly experienced as a hotel and dining complex, but its historic form, scale and location make it a core stop on any walk through the historic centre.