Some landmarks regarding the first museological initiatives on the lower danube. I. Galati area

Abstract

In the city of Galați the first preoccupations of museology – in the sense of bringing together objects of some public interest, originally grouped under the general criterion of «curiosities», their registration and display to be accessible for the public, appeared towards the end of the 19th century, on the general background of the development of humanities and, among others, under the impetus created by the establishment of the National Museum of Antiquities, confirmed through an royal decree signed by Alexandru Ioan Cuza, on November 25, 1861. In this short intervention the authors introduce the readers into the very beginnings of the coagulation of some collections that are related to certain characters, let's call them prominent in the cultural life of the place – as is the case of teachers Paul and Ecaterina Pașa, or of higher intellectual attire as is the case of the scholars Vasile Alexandrescu-Urechia or Constantin C. Giurescu. In one way or another, these incipient initiatives were at the basis of the contemporary museums of Galaţi, in which many of the artifacts «collected» by those mentioned are still to be found under the general title of «old fund».