The National Museum of Old Maps and Books (Muzeul Național al Hărților și Cărții Vechi) is a small museum in a historic building in Bucharest.
The museum was established on 4 Arpil 2003 and benefited greatly from the donation of hundreds of maps of the private collection of Dana and Adrian Năstase to the state. The museum collection contains over 1000 maps, engravings, drawings, lithographs and other related objects, mostly dating from the 16th to the 20th century.
The National Museum of Old Maps and Books exhibits the historical evolution of cartographic achievements of the world map, and in particular maps related to the territory of Romania. Among the collection are maps made by great geographers of the 16th century who based their maps on geographic and historic sources from the antiquity.
The museum is based in a historic building from the 1920s, which combines Gothic elements like broken arches with Mediterranean elements like loggias. When the building was renovated to house the museum, the ceilings were decorated with representations inspired by mythology and astronomical maps and stained glass windows were made with heraldic and cartographic depictions.
