Sutu Palace
Sutu Palace is among the oldest boyar palaces still standing in Bucharest. It belonged to the important Sutu family of Greek origins, who gave Princes to both Wallachia and Moldavia. In 1833 Costache Sutu started the construction of a house, on the land in front of Coltea Church brought as dowry by his wife. He commissioned the work to two Viennese architects, Johann Veit and Conrad Schwinck, who designed a palace with turrets in the romantic style in fashion at the beginning of the 19th century. The family coat of arms was evident on the frontispiece and the massive iron gates had a gilded sun surrounded by rays, much like at Versailles, to the astonishment of the passersby. The luxury of Sutu Palace was acknowledged and admired by the entire elite of the time, and the ball dances held here rivaled those of the Royal Palace.
The stunning central hall has a monumental staircase that splits into two wings, between which lies a superb large mirror brought from Venice. The interior decorations are the original ones, and were realized by the Romanian sculptor and decorator of German origin Karl Storck. Apart from its splendor, the palace attracts by housing the highly interesting exhibits of the History Museum of the City of Bucharest, among which the document issued by Prince Vlad III Dracula (Vlad Tepes “The Impaler” himself, identified by many with Count Dracula, Bram Stoker’s famous character) on September 20th 1459, mentioning for the first time Bucharest as a Princely residence.
