"Dimitrie Gusti" National Village Museum

The museum's layout and architectural reconstruction were executed under the supervision of set designer Victor Ion Popa and sociologist Henri H. Stahl, who applied the criteria of authenticity and respect for local building traditions. The structures were dismantled in their original locations and reassembled on the museum grounds by craftsmen brought from the villages of origin. The site is organized to reflect the topography and spatial organization of traditional Romanian villages, with buildings arranged to mimic their original settings. The architectural styles vary significantly by region, ranging from wooden churches with shingle roofs and swallow-tail joints to houses with thatched or tiled roofs, stone foundations, and specific regional decorative elements. The museum's design ensures that the monuments are presented in a context that respects their original functional and aesthetic integrity.

The museum's collection includes over 70 houses, 99 outbuildings, and churches, along with technical installations such as water and windmills and oil presses. A centerpiece of the collection is the wooden church from Dragomirești, Maramureș County, built in 1722. This church features a rectangular plan with a five-sided apse, spruce beam walls joined in 'swallow tail' fashion, and a roof with shaped shingles. Its interior is divided into the altar, nave, pronaos, and porch, with walls painted by local artists depicting scenes of heaven, hell, and daily life. Other notable holdings include traditional peasant houses from the 17th to the 20th century, representing the diverse architectural traditions of regions like Suceava, Neamț, Maramureș, Timiș, and Alba. The collection also encompasses a wide array of interior objects, including furniture, ceramics, fabrics, and tools, all sourced from the original villages.

The Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum holds immense significance as a pioneering institution in the field of open-air museography and sociological research. It was the first museum in Romania to adopt a 'sociological museum' approach, aiming to display the reality of village life as it was lived, rather than just static artifacts. Initially, peasant families from the villages of origin lived in the museum houses to demonstrate traditional customs, although this practice led to some deterioration of the monuments. The museum survived a period of severe disruption between 1940 and 1948 when it was used to house refugees from Bessarabia and Bukovina, resulting in the loss of some inventory and the dismantling of certain monuments. Despite these challenges, it reopened in 1948 under the directorship of Gheorghe Focșa and has since grown into one of the main tourist attractions in Bucharest, preserving and promoting Romania's rural heritage for future generations.