Old Princely Court

Bucharest's historic heart - on and off historic Calea Victoriei - sprang up around the Old Princely Court in the 15th century. The battered remains of this court reveal little; you can peer through the fence to the statues of Vlad Ţepeş.

Artisans and traders whose occupations are still reflected in street names like Str Covaci (trough-makers street) and Str Şelari (saddle-makers street) settled in this area in the 14th century, but it was not until the reigning prince of Wallachia, Vlad Ţepeş, fortified the settlement and built a Prince's Palace (Palatul Voievodal) that it flourished as a commercial centre. At the end of the 18th century, heavily damaged by earthquakes, it was auctioned off to local merchants.