"Vergu-Mănăilă" Museum of Ethnography

The basic exhibition of the "Vergu-Mănăilă" Museum of Ethnography is housed in one of the oldest preserved buildings in the municipality of Buzău, formerly owned by the Mănăilă and Vergu noble families. From the existing information, the construction of the house would have been started towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century by the great captain of the army and great tent maker Mănăilă. Later, his descendants became related to the Vergu family and modified the house. During the years 1971-1974, becoming the property of Buzău County, the building was restored and modernized. Extensive conservation-restoration works were also carried out in 2017. Currently, the building is located on Războieni street in the municipality of Buzău, at number 8, and has the status of a historical architectural monument of national interest (LMI code: BZ-II- mA-02350).

From an architectural point of view, the Vergu-Mănăilă house bears witness to the rural and courtly influences in the construction of the noble residences in the Buzău area in the 17th-18th centuries. In the upper part, the interior space is divided into six rooms. Access to the rooms is made from a long and wide hallway. Also in the upper part, an open porch is added to the six rooms. On the ground floor of the building there are five rooms used for storage, and in the basement a cellar. The landscaping of the house's garden contributes to the singularity of the architecture in the adjacent residential environment.

The current collection of the "Vergu-Mănăilă" Museum of Ethnography includes 4091 artifacts, acquisitions and donations from the Buzo region, and covers the following fields: folk costume, furniture, household objects, decorative objects, tools and icons.

The basic exhibition The traditional dwelling in the Buzo area offers the public complete elements regarding the environment of a peasant household from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, the exhibition space creates the premises for familiarizing the visitor with the way of understanding life in which aspects related to divinity, nature and birthplaces occupy the leading places. The artefacts are exhibited in five rooms that correspond to the spaces of a traditional home: the kitchen, the pantry, the living room, the study and the great house. Thus, through the modes of display and the plurality of artifacts, the exhibition valorizes de novo the rich ethnographic heritage of Buzău.