Folk Magic Saints and Superstitions

Merchants were very superstitious people. At Europe's oldest functional inn, find out about rituals which ensured safe travels and a successful outcome. We'll talk about spies, treasures hidden in walls and the very powerful magic of money

The oldest building in Bucharest, the Church of Saint Anthony is where people still come to find lost things: health, fortune, love and and, sometimes, even themselves. Light a candle here, and leave without looking back! or you might undo the ritual...

In front of the old Romanian seat of power, we'll talk about vampires, strigoi, men who ride storms and wise women who stop the rain.

Hidden between the cafés and noise of Bucharest’s Old Town, Stavropoleos Monastery feels almost unreal.
The moment people step inside, the city noise fades, the air changes, and time seems to slow down.
That contrast is exactly why the church accumulated so many legends, spiritual associations, and stories over the centuries.

In old Bucharest, magic was not hidden only in churches or folklore. It also lived in the places where people gathered — to drink, celebrate, gossip, fear, and tell stories late into the night.
Romanian folk culture has MANY beliefs involving drinking: toasts for protection, drinking for the dead, ritual hospitality, alcohol used in healing or blessing rituals, and beliefs that sharing bread and drink creates spiritual bonds.

Before Faust, there was Saint Cyprian the Magician. Both were men seeking forbidden knowledge and supernatural power, but only one of them found redemption. At Zlatari Church, it is believed that the holy remains of Saint Cyprian can break spells, curses and protect against evil.

The passage itself felt exotic to Bucharest society: golden filtered light, French-inspired arcades, Levantine cafés, an atmosphere unlike the rest of the city. To many locals, it felt “foreign to Bucharest itself.” That is how stories emerged about: alchemists, mysterious merchants, discreet societies, and rituals brought from the East. Some say that late at night, when the passage becomes nearly empty and the golden light glows softer... the passage becomes something else, a bridge between two worlds.

During the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the entire area around Revolution Square, the Royal Palace, and the Athenaeum became emotionally charged. Many locals still describe the zone at night as: “heavy,” especially during winter. Some believe the emotional trauma of the Revolution somehow remained embedded in the space.

The Romanian Athenaeum is usually presented as a symbol of culture and elegance. But behind the concerts, chandeliers, and Belle Époque glamour, the building accumulated an entire mythology of whispers, ghost stories, secret societies, strange acoustics, and unexplained experiences.
Because in old Bucharest, people believed that places absorbing intense emotion — music, grief, ambition, political intrigue — eventually become “alive.” And few places absorbed more emotion than the Athenaeum.

Behind the elegance of Casa Vernescu lies a forgotten world where superstition, ritual, and hidden beliefs shaped the lives of Bucharest’s elite. Beneath its chandeliers and grand salons, we uncover the folk fears, protective traditions, spiritist obsessions, and unseen forces that haunted Belle Époque society.