The Former Hotel Palace (Fostul Hotel Palace) is an early 20th-century building in central Craiova, constructed between 1900 and 1905 to accommodate both the Palace Hotel and the Bank of Oltenia. Designed in an eclectic style with Neo-Romanian and Baroque influences, the building stands on a prominent corner overlooking Michael the Brave Square. Its richly ornamented façades, arched windows, balconies, and elaborate roofline distinguish it among the historic commercial buildings of the city center.
The hotel and bank were planned as independent establishments within the same building, with separate entrances and internal circulation. Founded in 1904, the Bank of Oltenia used the ground and first floors, where a spacious banking hall was surrounded by counters and offices. The hotel accommodated guests on the upper floors and in the mansard, with some of its rooms positioned around the building’s corner. The interior was designed with considerable attention to decoration, particularly the banking hall, which features a vaulted ceiling with a skylight, galleries supported by columns and three-lobed arches, and richly ornamented walls.
The building’s original commercial functions ended during the communist nationalizations of the late 1940s. It subsequently accommodated several institutions, including the National Tourism Office, the state savings bank CEC, and later the Romanian Commercial Bank. In 2004, it became an administrative building of the Craiova City Hall. Following decades of alterations and earthquake damage, an extensive restoration project launched in 2021 consolidated the structure and renovated its historic façades and interiors.
