Brukenthal National Museum

The Brukenthal National Museum occupies the grandest building on Piata Mare, a Baroque palace that served as the residence of Samuel von Brukenthal, Governor of Transylvania under Maria Theresa. The art collection it contains is one of the most important in Romania — Flemish masters, Dutch landscapes, Italian Renaissance panels, and a strong section of Central European painting from the 17th to 19th centuries.

The complex has expanded over the years to encompass several buildings: besides the main art gallery in the palace, there are collections of history, natural history, pharmacy, and decorative arts. The pharmacy museum is particularly striking, with its original 18th-century fittings intact. Budget at least two hours for the art gallery alone.

things to do museum
A story
Samuel von Brukenthal, the Habsburg governor who built this palace in the 1770s, assembled one of the finest private art collections in Central Europe during his lifetime. When he died in 1803, he left the entire collection — paintings, prints, coins, natural history specimens — to the city of Sibiu, making it one of the oldest public museums in Europe, opened to visitors just nine years after the Louvre.