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Photo: Mvelam, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Craiova National Theater "Marin Sorescu" is an internationally renowned institution. Every two years theater troupes and theater lovers from all around the world come to participate in the International Shakespeare Festival.
The National Theater Craiova, formally named after playwright Marin Sorescu, is a state-run institution for performing arts in Craiova, Romania. It endures as the center of theatrical life in all of Oltenia, and overall as one of that region's most celebrated cultural institutions. Its origins lead back to a private company set up in 1850—though a permanent local troupe was only established in the 1860s, when managed by Theodor Theodorini and his wife Maria; sponsored and rebuilt by their famous daughter Elena, by 1880 it was already embroiled in political intrigue, and ignored by the affluent elites. It became a fully state-owned theater in 1889, under the Romanian dynastic regime. This change turned allegations of maladministration into issues of national interest, especially during 1898, when Ion Livescu led an actors' revolt against the state-appointed managers. The modernization effort begun by Livescu and Petre I. Sturdza, who changed focus away from crowd-pleasing operettas and melodramas, was carried forward by manager Emil Gârleanu, initially with help from Liviu Rebreanu. In the early 1910s, Gârleanu's TNC came to promote Romanian nationalism and historicism alongside the staples of modern drama, while also completing one of the earliest projects in Romanian cinema.
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Muzeul de Arta
The Art Museum of Craiova is located in the sumptuous palace of the former magnate Jean Mihail. Built between 1899-1907, according to the plans of the French architect Paul Gottereau, the palace represents, stylistically, a rather free interpretation of the late baroque. The wealth of the patrimony, the quite elegant background, with Venetian mirrors, candelabrums of Murano crystal, Carrara marble staircases, walls with tapestry of Lyon silk, but specially the particular way the objects are displayed, have brought it to the attention of the visitors. At the origin of the museum is the "Alexandru and Aristia Aman" pinacotec, founded in 1905 and sheltered in the house of the Lăceanu family (Aristia's parents). Along the years, acquisitions by the City Hall or donations have been added: Cornetti, Glogoveanu, N.Romanescu, Jean Mihail. Taken over by the Museum of Oltenia in 1950, this rich fund was removed, in 1954, to the present center turned into the Art Museum. The Museum is organized in three sections: (1) The European art Gallery (the Dutch, Flemish, French and Italian schools), located in five rooms on the ground floor of the palace; (2) The Romanian Art Gallery (from feudal to contemporary art), on the first floor; and (3) The Brancusi room with masterpieces from the youth of the great sculptor: Vitellius, Vainglory, Head, Fragment of Torso, The Kiss and Melle Pogany.
An entire ensemble of artesian wells, vases with verdure, and decorative plants greet you in this central plaza wherein also lie the statue of Mihai Viteazu and a musical fountain and a formal English garden to the east. The musical fountain in Craiova is unique in the country as design.
Muzeul Olteniei
It is located in three different buildings that host three different exhibitions. The building from str. Popa Şapcă nr.8 is where the Nature Science Museum and a traditional pottery shop are located. In the building from str. Madona Dudu nr. 14 the history and archaeology exhibition is located, with a new build wing. The building from str. Matei Basarab nr.16 is one of the oldest in the city, built in the 15th century. Here the ethnography exhibition is located
Nice pinstriped church, Romanian Orthodox, though constructed in 1933, inhabits a former site of a church from 1651.
Nice park with many interesting plants representative of flora from across Romania.
Parcul Romanescu
A special sight in Craiova is represented by "Nicolae Romanescu" Park, with its picturesque character. Unique in Romania, this valuable architectural monument is also one of the most interesting accomplishments of its kind in Europe. Displayed at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, in 1900, the park's plans received the Golden Medal. The works began in 1901, under the supervision of the project's author, assisted by artists Jules Redont (his brother) and Emil Pinard. For two years, 50,000 seedlings of ornamental trees and shrubs, from among which many species difficult to adapt to our climate were planted. Thus, the park began to take shape: the lake and the two islands, the river, bridges, small waterfalls, alleys, "The Suspended Bridge", with its two gorgeous porticos, "The Enchanted Castle", "The Circular Hall", the deer's pen and the bears' cave, the pier and the restaurant on the bank of the lake, pavilions, greenhouses, imitations of rocks and tree trunks made of armoured-concrete. The park's inauguration took place in May 1903, and the celebrations caused by the event lasted for two weeks. Conceived and created like a romantic park with a surface of 90 ha, plus the lakes (4 ha) and the racecourse (20 ha), the park is unique in Romania, in its own way. Moreover, this is the second largest park of its kind in Europe, and the racecourse is the biggest in the Balkan area. In 1956, it was enclosed with a fence, the monumental portal at the main entrance being built at the same time.