Unseen Romania

Lipscani - "The Old Leipzig" of Bucharest

A place that was threatened with its demolition. A place that in the past was a cultural and trade center. A place that blends different architectural styles and nationalities. Lipscani, “the old Leipzig” of Bucharest.

Lipscani's History

Lipscani is and will be for a long time a place where I will go and feel like home. This area is a part of Bucharest's historical center and the the local authorities are trying to “bring it back to life” since 2005. They started by stopping the complete access of cars on these streets, but after a while, they changed their mind and allowed vehicles on some of the streets to avoid the traffic clogging. Although, the best way to visit Lipscani is by walking, to enjoy the beautiful architecture of the old buildings.

Lipscani received its name from Lipsca, the old Romanian name for Leipzig, and it was named this way after the merchants that came from Leipzig to sell their wares in Bucharest. This word comes from the Slavic language with the “Lipsk” and “Lipsko” forms meaning “place with lime trees”. In a time period spanning from the 15th to the 18th century, Lipscani was a well developed commercial area with a large number of trade routes that went here, even before Bucharest was officially attested in 1459. Around 1600, this area was populated by jewelers, shoe and hat makers, tanners, etc. of different nationalities including Bulgarians, Greeks, Serbs, Romanians and Austrians. This mixture was at that time a successful one, giving birth to new commercial opportunities. It was also an interesting blend of poverty and luxury, which is somewhat true these days too.

Write a comment

Name:
Email:
Subject:
Comment: *

Security Code:
 

WanderingSoul
Posts: 1

Bucharest & Paris are a bit alike :)
Reply #1 on : Sat September 06, 2008, 23:51:29

---

Bucharest's Lipscani resembles a bit (and on a smaller scale maybe) the famous 'Quartier Latin' of Paris. Except for the fact that in Paris' Quartier Latin there are loadsa eateries of all sorts, especially Greek, where they sell the famous gyros (the Greek equivalent of Turkish kebab).
There also are another notable similarities between some places/streets in Bucharest and Paris.
So, there must've been a good reason (or maybe a few) when Bucharest was nicknamed 'The Little Paris'...