Virtual Tour of the National Bank Museum

Set up in the Marble Hallway, the NBR Museum was re-established in 1997. The Museum exhibits the history of currency circulation in Romania, from coins used by the Greek strongholds of Dobrogea to the Leu denomination in 2005.

A special mention should go to the hall’s acoustics, broken in the centre and clear all around the room. They had been especially designed to keep the secrecy of bank operations, a forerunner of the discretion line in present-day commercial banks. The resulting echo was meant to enable the discretion of communications between bank clerks and their clients.

From the very beginning, the Marble Hallway was used for conducting bank operations with the public, counters being placed on three of its sides. The clerks kept the daily registers and cash in the vaults embedded in the room's pillars. Nowadays, the Marble Hallway hosts the permanent exhibition of the NBR Museum.

The vaults embedded in the room’s pillars are a surprise for the visitors and unique among other museums in the country.

The Mini Hallway links the New Palace to the Old Palace and was initially designed for banking operations. It is build on the former “National Bank” Street.

The leu (lion) became the national currency of Romania in 1867.