Muzeul Pompierilor

Last week I needed a break from the archives, and I wanted to take advantage of my time in Bucharest. So I looked in a guidebook for some new sights to see. One of the things they recommended caught my attention: the firefighters' museum. The guidebook said that the museum itself was a bit underwhelming, but that it was worth going to see the view from the tower. The tower was originally built so that the firefighters could watch for fires in the surrounding area. As you probably know if you've been following this blog over the past few years, one of my favorite things to do as a tourist is find a nice bird's-eye view of the city or countryside. I've spent over three months in Bucharest now, and have yet to do that, so I thought that it was about time.

Having visited the firefighters' museum or Muzeul Pomierilor, I would have to disagree with the guidebook. The tower was not very tall, and the view was less than spectacular. If you only have a short time in Bucharest, the Muzeul Pomierilor should not be on your "must see" list. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my visit there. The view wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, but the experience of going there was certainly entertaining.

The tower that houses the Muzeul Pomierilor


After I paid my admission fee and went up in the tower to see the lackluster view, I felt that it would be rude to just turn around and leave without looking at the rest of the museum. So I briefly examined the exhibit room on the top floor. I was under the impression that that was the entire museum, because how much could there really be to say about firefighting in Romania? Was I ever mistaken!


After viewing the top floor, the docent who had brought me up there in the elevator directed me to the stairs down. On the next floor there was another whole exhibit.

And on the next floor, and the next floor. The museum was very thorough, with five floors of information and artifacts on the past and present of firefighting in Romania. I was the only visitor in the museum at that moment, so the docent would accompany me to each floor, turning the light on as we entered and off as we left. Not wanting to be rude and rush through, I took my time and learned as much as my limited Romanian vocabulary allowed about pompieri.


Perhaps because I was the only visitor that afternoon, they gave me a little pin with a picture of the tower on it to commemorate my visit.


And they invited me to take my picture as a Romanian firefighter!


I guess fires and firefighting was the theme of the day, because on my walk to the museum, I saw this. This building was on my route to work last summer, so I passed by it in the bus or on foot every day. Last week, I heard from some Romanian friends that there had been a fire there, and on my walk to the museum I got to see for myself.


And through some strange coincidence, I also encountered some fire trucks and real live Romanian firefighters on my walk to the museum. Over the past two summers, I've heard sirens quite frequently in Bucharest, but this was my first time seeing red pompierii trucks like these. As far as I could tell, the fire that they had been called to was very minor, so don't worry!


After the disappointing view from the firefighters' tower, I decided to visit the Intercontinental Hotel in Piata Universitate, which as far as I can tell is the tallest building in Bucharest. They did not have an observation deck, but they let me go up to the pool balcony on the 22nd floor. As you can see below, I got the view of the city that I was looking for: