# Cucuteni Eneolithic Art Museum 'Gheorghe Dumitroaia'

> The most important collection of Eneolithic art in Eastern Europe: pots painted with red, white and black spirals and human figurines of the Cucuteni civilisation (c. 5000–3500 BC), housed in a neo-Romanian former bank in the old centre of Piatra Neamț.

- Strada Ștefan cel Mare nr. 3, Piatra-Neamț
- GPS: 46.93353, 26.368485
- Contact: 0233 226 471, secretariat@cmnn.ro
- https://cmnn.ro/muzeu/muzeul-de-arta-eneolitica-cucuteni-gheorghe-dumitroaia/
- Part of: Complexul Muzeal Național Neamț (https://neamt.rdcopilot.com/)

**Opening hours**

Tuesday – Sunday: 10:00–18:00 (April – September), 9:00–17:00 (October – March). Closed on Mondays.

**April – September: 04-01 – 09-30**
- Monday: closed
- Tuesday: 10:00–18:00
- Wednesday: 10:00–18:00
- Thursday: 10:00–18:00
- Friday: 10:00–18:00
- Saturday: 10:00–18:00
- Sunday: 10:00–18:00

**October – March: 10-01 – 03-31**
- Monday: closed
- Tuesday: 09:00–17:00
- Wednesday: 09:00–17:00
- Thursday: 09:00–17:00
- Friday: 09:00–17:00
- Saturday: 09:00–17:00
- Sunday: 09:00–17:00

**Prices**

- Adult: 16 lei
- Student / adult group: 8 lei
- Child / pupil: 4 lei
- Photography fee (exhibitions): 10 lei

**Accessibility**

Stepped entrance; staff help with access on request.

## Visit

- [Cucuteni Eneolithic Art Museum 'Gheorghe Dumitroaia'](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/index.md?lang=en)
- [Tickets online](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/bilete.md?lang=en)
- [Audio guide](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid.md?lang=en): 19 stops
- [Indoor map](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/harta-interioara.md?lang=en)
- [Versiunea în română](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/llms.txt)

## Audio guide

- [0. Welcome](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-bun-venit.md?lang=en): Welcome to Cucuteni Museum of Eneolithic Art. This audio guide walks you through the exhibition: scan the QR code next to each exhibit or choose a stop from the list.
- [1. Welcome: the Petrodava Bank Palace](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-palatul-bancii-petrodava.md?lang=en): Welcome to the Cucuteni Museum of Eneolithic Art! You are standing in one of the most striking buildings in Piatra-Neamț. It was built between 1928 and 1930 by the contractor Carol Zani, to a design by Roger Bolomey, once chief architect of Bucharest.
- [2. Discovering Cucuteni: a history of research](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-istoria-cercetarii-descoperitorii-civilizatiei-cucuteni.md?lang=en): This room tells the story of the people who brought the Cucuteni civilisation to light. Its name comes from the village of Cucuteni, in Iași County, where the site was identified in 1884.
- [3. The pedestal vessel with columns from Izvoare](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-vasul-cu-suport-si-colonete.md?lang=en): In front of you is one of the museum's best-known pieces: the pedestal vessel with columns from Izvoare. If you have noticed the logo of the Neamț National Museum Complex, you have already seen this vessel, because it became the institution's emblem.
- [4. The crown vessel from Poduri](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-vasul-coroana-de-la-poduri.md?lang=en): This unusual vessel, whose rim rises into large, hollow projections, is called a crown vessel. Archaeologists gave it that name because its silhouette recalls a crown.
- [5. The Frumușica Round Dance](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-hora-de-la-frumusica.md?lang=en): Here is the piece many consider the symbol of Cucuteni art: the Frumușica Round Dance. It was discovered in 1942 by Constantin Matasă on Cetățuia hill near Bodeștii de Jos, in Neamț County.
- [6. The binocular vessel from Ghelăiești](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-vasul-binoclu-de-la-ghelaiesti.md?lang=en): Archaeologists have a sense of humour: this object is called a binocular vessel simply because it looks like a pair of binoculars. The name has nothing to do with how it was used.
- [7. The lobed vessel from Piatra Șoimului](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-vasul-lobat-de-la-piatra-soimului.md?lang=en): This vessel comes from Piatra Șoimului, just a few kilometres from Piatra-Neamț, and belongs to the transitional Cucuteni A-B phase. Notice the shape first: the rim is not a simple circle but is modelled into lobes, like petals or waves.
- [8. The amphora with human figures from Poduri](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-amfora-cu-siluete-umane-de-la-poduri.md?lang=en): Most Cucuteni vessels are decorated with spirals, meanders and geometric bands. This amphora from Poduri is an exception: human figures are painted on its body. They are pared down to essentials: a torso, arms, sometimes a barely sketched head.
- [9. The amphora with animal figures from Poduri](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-amfora-cu-siluete-animale-de-la-poduri.md?lang=en): On this amphora from Poduri, the craftsman painted animals. You can see them running around the vessel, with long bodies, slender legs and raised tails. In the Cucuteni B phase such images become increasingly common.
- [10. The krater with bucrania from Târgu Ocna](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-craterul-cu-bucranii-de-la-targu-ocna.md?lang=en): This large, wide-mouthed vessel is called a krater. It comes from Târgu Ocna, from the Podei plateau in Bacău County, where a Cucuteni B settlement was discovered. The houses there had walls of woven branches plastered with clay.
- [11. The anthropomorphic vessel from Trușești](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-vasul-antropomorf-de-la-trusesti.md?lang=en): At first glance it looks like an ordinary pot. But look at it as a body: it has shoulders, a rounded belly and hips. Archaeologists call it an anthropomorphic vessel, meaning a vessel in human form.
- [12. The bird-shaped vessel from Poduri](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-vasul-ornitomorf-de-la-poduri.md?lang=en): We have now climbed to the upper floor, to the room of sculptural masterpieces. We begin with a vessel that looks like a bird. Archaeologists call it ornithomorphic, from the Greek word for bird. It comes from Poduri and belongs to the Cucuteni A phase.
- [13. The Thinker of Târpești](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-ganditorul-de-la-tarpesti.md?lang=en): Meet the Thinker of Târpești. It is a small figurine of fired, brick-red clay showing a man seated directly on the ground, elbows on his knees and palms pressed to his temples.
- [14. The Council of Goddesses from Poduri](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-soborul-zeitelor-de-la-poduri.md?lang=en): Before you is one of the most spectacular cult assemblages in European prehistory: the Council of Goddesses from Poduri.
- [15. The sanctuary model from Poduri](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-macheta-de-sanctuar-de-la-poduri.md?lang=en): This clay piece is a model, a building in miniature, which archaeologists interpret as a sanctuary. It comes from Poduri and belongs to the Precucuteni culture. Notice the wide opening at the front, which lets us look inside, like a stage set.
- [16. The female figurines from Răucești](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-statuetele-feminine-de-la-raucesti.md?lang=en): Compare these figurines from Răucești, in Neamț County, with the older ones you have already seen. Here, in the Cucuteni B phase, the female body becomes almost a sign.
- [17. Incised female figurine from Trușești-Țuguieta](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-statueta-feminina-cu-decor-incizat.md?lang=en): This female figurine, 17 centimetres tall, comes from Trușești-Țuguieta, in Botoșani County, and was shaped around 6,300 years ago.
- [18. The cult assemblage from Ghelăiești-Nedeia](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-complexul-de-cult-de-la-ghelaiesti-nedeia.md?lang=en): We near the end of the visit with a discovery that preserves a ritual almost intact. At Ghelăiești, on Nedeia hill in Neamț County, archaeologists led by Ștefan Cucoș excavated a multi-layered settlement between 1969 and 1989.
- [19. The Brad Treasure](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/ghid/cucuteni-tezaurul-de-la-brad.md?lang=en): Let us finish with a treasure in the literal sense. In 1982, in the Cucuteni settlement at Brad, on the high terrace of the Siret river in Bacău County, archaeologists found an askos-type vessel hiding about 480 objects.

## Optional

- [Full audio-guide text](https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.rdcopilot.com/llms-full.txt?lang=en)