Ninety seconds on Palace of Culture
Before you pick one of its four museums, stand in the Hall of Honour and look up at the landmark of Iași. History, art, ethnography and science share this Neo-Gothic palace, and a guided climb takes you inside the clock tower.
The palace stands on the site of the old Princely Court, where Moldavia's rulers lived, and was rebuilt in Flamboyant Neo-Gothic style before it opened in 1925. Inside, it is laid out like a ducal palace in Western Europe: mosaic floors in the hallways, very large halls and coats of arms worked into the walls.
Climb to the first floor for the Hall of the Voivodes, the festival hall at the centre of the building. Its ceiling rises in Gothic arches over a gallery of portraits of Moldavia's rulers.
Look closely at the woodwork in some of the rooms. Much of what reads as carved oak is bois-ciment, a mix of cement and resin boiled in oil, invented by the engineer Henri Coandă.
Outside, look up at the 55-metre central tower. Its clock faces are stained glass set with the twelve signs of the zodiac, and a painted pair of soldiers stands guard beside each one. Eight bells inside play Hora Unirii, the song of the 1859 union, at each hour.
The halls lead into the Museum of History of Moldavia, the Art Museum, the Ethnographic Museum, with its collection on traditional rural life, and the Ștefan Procopiu Museum of Science and Technology.
Walk in through the main entrance, where a ramp gives step-free access, and start in the Hall of Honour, which is free to enter. Go to the information desk next and book the clock tower. It is ticketed separately, seen only with a guide, and places are limited.
Then buy museum tickets at the counter: a single museum, or a combined ticket for all four that also opens the main halls. One museum takes 45 minutes to an hour, so fit your choice around the tower slot.
Two lifts inside link the floors if you would rather not take the stairs.
The clock tower is guided only: you cannot go up on your own. Tours run through the day, starting shortly before each hour, from late morning to mid-afternoon; confirm the times when you book.
A lift takes you up to the mechanism room, where you see the clockwork and the carillon and feel the bells as they strike the hour. The rest of the palace you see at your own pace.
Hear the bells from outside as well. Stand in the public gardens of Palas Iași, just behind the palace, a few minutes before the hour: the gardens give the clearest view of the whole front, and the tune carries across them from the tower.
Children going up the tower must be with a parent or other adult relative. Confirm the minimum age at the desk when you book.
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