Cărturești Carusel, Boutique bookstore in Old Town, Romania
Cărturești Carusel is a bookstore set inside a restored early 20th-century building in the Old Town of Bucharest. The interior spans six floors connected by white spiral staircases and ornamental iron railings around an open atrium.
The building was constructed in 1903 to serve as a banking house and kept that role for several decades. In 2015, a full renovation converted it into a bookstore while keeping its original architectural features intact.
The name "Cărturești" is a Romanian wordplay combining "cărturar", meaning scholar, with a poetic ring. Visitors tend to move floor by floor around the open atrium, which gives the browsing experience a natural, circular rhythm.
The bookstore sits in the heart of Bucharest's Old Town and is easy to reach on foot from nearby sights. Plan enough time to explore all the floors without rushing, and leave room for the café on the top level.
The glass roof over the atrium was added during the 2015 renovation and was not part of the original 1903 building. Without it, the natural light that now reaches all six floors would simply not exist.
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