Romania: Iasi – Palace of Culture
This is the biggest landmark in Iasi and it is absolutely awesome and dead in the center of the city. The construction of the massive palace began in the late 19th century as a reconstruction of the Princely Palace of Moldavia, a neo-gothic structure with 365 rooms (one for each day of the year), but only 298 were built. It was only completed after WWI and inaugurated in 1925. It served as Justice Palace until 1955 (used by first German and then Russian troops in WWII), and was then repurposed as the Moldavia National Museum Complex. It now houses four different museums. The building is absolutely stunning architecturally – we went around it multiple times in different times of the day and night (when it’s lit up). Also, best views can be had from the rooftop or top floors of the nearby Hotel Moldova.
