Saint Demetrius Park (Parcul Sfântul Dumitru) is a historic public garden in central Craiova, surrounding the Metropolitan Cathedral and Casa Băniei, which houses the Oltenia Museum of Ethnography. Covering approximately 2.4 hectares, the park combines green spaces, flowerbeds, and walking paths with some of the city’s oldest historic landmarks. It is also known as Băniei Garden (Grădina Băniei), Rose Garden (Grădina Trandafirilor), and Buzești Brothers Garden (Grădina Frații Buzești).
The grounds were originally part of Craiova’s historic administrative and religious center, where the residence of the bans of Oltenia stood alongside the Saint Demetrius Church. Although the area had long contained gardens and open spaces, its development as a public park began during the early 20th century. In 1932, the Romanian government transferred the surrounding land to Craiova’s municipality for the creation of a public garden, based on urban development plans prepared under architect Otto Hesselman Carada. Improvements from 1933 included stone retaining walls, stairways, paved paths, and planting, incorporating the historic buildings into a unified public space.
The park has an irregular layout shaped by the differences in elevation around the cathedral and Casa Băniei. Stone steps connect its various levels, while open lawns, shrubs, flowerbeds, and groups of deciduous and evergreen trees provide a mixture of sunny and shaded areas. Roses were once particularly abundant, giving the park its alternative name, Rose Garden. The planting has undergone several changes, including the removal of many rose beds during renovations in 2022.
Among the park’s historic features is an inscribed stone cross dating from 1826, brought here in 1933 from the former Outside Market area of Craiova. In the southeastern part stands the Buzești Brothers Monument, created by sculptor Boris Caragea in 1978 to commemorate three military commanders who served Michael the Brave. Its raised stone platform forms a prominent feature of the garden.
