Craiova is a lively and dynamic city of southern Romania with ancient origins founded on the site of an ancient Dacian fortress along the routes that the eastern traders travelled to Europe. In Craiova you can spend a relaxing day inside the wonderful park Nicolae Romanescu, visit the art museum located in the sumptuous palace Constantin Mihail and admire the characteristic Byzantine Cathedral of Saint Demetrius. Romania Romanian leu Romanian Image Image Image Nicolae Romanescu Park The Nicolae Romanescu Park is one of the most beautiful places in the city of Craiova. Built at the beginning of 1900, the park covers an area of over ninety hectares and is the third largest natural park in Europe. Within the park there are numerous monuments and points of interest including a racecourse, an amphitheatre, a suspension bridge, a small castle, a zoo and a large lake where you can take a boat ride. Image Art museum The Craiova Art Museum is one of the most important museums in the city. It is located inside the elegant Constantin Mihail palace, built at the beginning of 1900 by one of the most important families in Romania and decorated with Carrara marble, Murano glass and tapestries of Lyon. In 1954 the palace was used to house the Art Museum, which collects numerous galleries with works of the most prestigious Romanian painters and sculptors. Image Cathedral of St. Demetrius St Demetrius Cathedral is a charming Orthodox cathedral located in the centre of the city of Craiova. The present cathedral stands on the ruins of a first church that is thought to date back to before 1100. According to the evidence, the original building, previously damaged, received the final blow with a violent earthquake in 1838. Fifty years later the church was demolished and a new one was built in Byzantine style, which is what you can still admire. Of the old church seems to have remained only the bell tower.