Lipscani
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Lipscani rooftops; looking north on Str. Smârdan toward the Romanian National Bank |
Lipscani is a street and a district of
Bucharest,
Romania, which in the
Middle Ages was the most important commercial center of Bucharest and the whole
Wallachia. It is located near the ruins of the
old Princely Court built by
Vlad III Dracula.
Main article: History of Bucharest
It was named after
Leipzig (
Lipsca in 17th century
Romanian), as that was the origin of many of the wares that could be found on the main street. The word
lipscan (singular of
lipscani) came to mean trader who brought his wares from
Western Europe.
All trades were found in the area, including
goldsmiths,
hatters,
shoemakers,
tanners,
saddlemakers, etc., many
guilds (or
isnafuri) having their own street: even nowadays, the nearby streets bear the name of a trade (
Blănari =
Tanners street,
Şelari =
Saddlemakers street, etc).
During the
Communist period, the whole region was scheduled to be demolished. Many of the buildings became neglected, and even nowadays many of them have not been restored for a long time. In the early 21st century, much of the district has been
pedestrianized.
