Hanul cu Tei

Hanul cu Tei, meaning “The Linden Tree Inn,” is one of the surviving historic inns in central Bucharest, Romania. It was established in 1833 on the trading thoroughfare associated with Lipscani by Anastasie Hagi Gheorghe Polizu and Ștefan Popovici. The complex was also known as the Bezesten de pe Ulița cea mare a Marchitanilor, a name reflecting its role on the merchants’ street and its connection with the commercial life of nineteenth-century Bucharest. The inn was organized as a commercial and lodging complex rather than as a single conventional shop or hospitality brand. Each of its two founders controlled fourteen shops arranged above deep, vaulted cellars. The pedestrian passage and the guardian’s room were shared elements. Merchants visiting Bucharest could trade, store goods, and find accommodation within the same enclosed urban compound, making the site part of the city’s historic mercantile infrastructure. Among the merchants associated with the inn was Constantin Atanasiu, who later established the well-known shop La vulturul de mare cu peștele în ghiare, whose building still survives near the Cocor department-store site and is now occupied by a bank. Hanul cu Tei is especially notable for the survival of its original architectural form. It is described as the only historic inn in Bucharest to have retained its shape essentially as it was at its foundation. Its entrances on both Lipscani and Blănari streets are connected by a pedestrian passage, and the original owners’ initials—“A.P.” and “S.P.”—remain visible in the form of a seal at the Blănari entrance. The building also preserves features associated with Wallachian urban architecture, including an upper storey enclosed by glass panels and ornate wrought-iron gates. In its contemporary use, the former inn accommodates art galleries and a cellar bar. These uses continue the site's long relationship with commerce, sociability, and public access while giving it a cultural and visitor-oriented role in Bucharest’s historic centre. Hanul cu Tei is therefore best understood not as a mass-market consumer brand, but as a named historic venue and heritage property whose identity is rooted in architecture, urban memory, and the reuse of a nineteenth-century commercial complex.

Hanul cu Tei was built in 1833 by Anastasie Hagi Gheorghe Polizu and Ștefan Popovici on the commercial street now associated with Bucharest’s Lipscani district. Its alternative historical name, Bezesten de pe Ulița cea mare a Marchitanilor, identifies it with the city’s merchant quarter and with the bezesten tradition of enclosed commercial marketplaces. The inn combined retail premises, storage areas, circulation space, and accommodation in a compact urban complex. The two founders each possessed fourteen shops situated above substantial vaulted cellars. The pedestrian alley and the room used by the guardian were held jointly, while the remaining commercial units were divided between the founders. This arrangement illustrates the inn’s original function as a privately developed marketplace serving merchants who came to Bucharest to conduct trade. Its significance was practical as well as architectural: it provided a controlled, concentrated setting for selling goods, storing merchandise, and hosting visiting traders. The site was connected to the wider commercial network of nineteenth-century Bucharest. Merchants who stayed or traded there included Constantin Atanasiu, later associated with the shop La vulturul de mare cu peștele în ghiare. That merchant establishment occupied a separate building that has also survived, although its later use changed to banking. Such associations place Hanul cu Tei within a broader landscape of commercial buildings that shaped the historic centre. Architecturally, Hanul cu Tei is distinguished by the preservation of its original plan and form. It is regarded as the only old inn in Bucharest to have maintained its shape exactly or almost exactly as it appeared at its origins. The complex remains accessible from both Lipscani and Blănari streets through decorated wrought-iron gates. At the Blănari entrance, the initials of the founders, “A.P.” and “S.P.,” can still be seen in the original owners’ mark. The upper level retains a glass-covered façade, a feature associated with the Wallachian architectural character of the period. The building’s function has changed over time. Rather than operating solely as a nineteenth-century merchant inn, the former commercial complex now houses art galleries and a cellar bar. Its reuse combines cultural activity and hospitality with the preservation of a historic structure. Hanul cu Tei consequently remains part of Bucharest’s visitor economy and historic-centre identity, while its name continues to refer to the building and its heritage rather than to a contemporary corporate enterprise.

• 1833

  Construction of Hanul cu Tei

  [1]Hanul cu Teien.wikipedia.org

  Anastasie Hagi Gheorghe Polizu and Ștefan Popovici established the inn on Bucharest’s principal merchant street, creating a complex of shops, vaulted cellars, shared circulation space, and accommodation.

• Association with Bucharest’s merchant community

  [1]Hanul cu Teien.wikipedia.org

  The inn hosted important merchants, including Constantin Atanasiu, linking it to the commercial institutions and surviving merchant buildings of the historic centre.

• Conversion to cultural and hospitality uses

  [1]Hanul cu Teien.wikipedia.org

  In its contemporary role, the former inn became home to art galleries and a cellar bar while retaining its historic architectural form.

A historic Bucharest commercial inn positioned today as a preserved architectural landmark and cultural hospitality venue.

• Cultural venue

  Art galleries

  The former inn accommodates multiple art galleries. These galleries give the historic commercial complex a contemporary cultural function and make the site a venue for viewing and displaying art within an architecturally significant setting. Specific gallery operators, exhibition programs, and commercial arrangements are not identified in the available reference material.

• Hospitality

  Cellar bar

  A cellar bar operates within the former inn, making use of the deep vaulted cellar spaces that were part of the building’s original commercial design. The bar represents a hospitality-oriented reuse of the premises, although the available sources do not specify its operator, menu, opening date, or current commercial terms.

1. 1Hanul cu Teien.wikipedia.org