The Institute of Forensic Medicine, or Bucharest’s lost heritage
After 93 years of existence, the imposing building was razed as part of the brutal urban redevelopment plan for Bucharest decided by Nicolae Ceaușescu following the earthquake of 4 March 1977.
Steliu Lambru, 18.10.2026, 14:00
On the left bank of the Dâmbovița, after the river leaves the central area around Unirii Square, stood until 1985 the building of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, named after its founder, Dr Mina Minovici. It was a magnificent building, remarkable both for its architecture and for its purpose. It had been built in the second half of the 19th century, during a period of economic growth in Romania, under King Carol I, with this very purpose in mind. Inaugurated in 1892 as the City Morgue, it became the Institute of Forensic Medicine in 1898. After 93 years of existence, the imposing building was razed as part of the brutal urban redevelopment plan for Bucharest decided by Nicolae Ceaușescu following the earthquake of 4 March 1977. Thus, the Institute of Forensic Medicine became one of the many victims of the inexplicable demolitions of that period.
Octavian Buda is a professor of the history of medicine at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest and a psychiatrist at the Mina Minovici Institute of Forensic Medicine. His experience of that building dates back to his youth, when he was preparing to study medicine and was deprived of the heritage left by previous generations: “One rather depressing record we hold in urban history is that we have a morgue that has literally died, namely through the demolition of this building, which had truly remarkable architectural value. This happened around 1985, when I was preparing to sit the entrance examination for medical school. I happened to find myself in the Căuzași area, and as I walked around there, I had the distinct feeling that the whole situation was more than depressing. It is very difficult to put into words why a building was demolished when, in terms of its location, it was practically behind what is now the National Library.”
Like St Vineri Church, Văcărești Monastery and other buildings of great architectural value, the Institute of Forensic Medicine was also needlessly demolished. Octavian Buda: “The reason why the building was demolished was utterly incomprehensible, because it was not bothering anyone. According to popular lore, Ceaușescu is supposed to have said: ‘What is this, medicine for the dead? There is no such thing. If it is a morgue for collecting corpses, then it should be moved to the outskirts of the city!’ Interestingly enough, the autopsy and photographing of the man who was shot [Ceaușescu himself] ultimately became an unmistakable document in forensic medicine and the history of forensic medicine. So, in the end, he did not escape what he had tried to avoid.”
The Bucharest institute’s building had been modelled on similar institutions in the West, with the Liverpool institution dating from 1837 being its closest source of inspiration, as Octavian Buda has also pointed out. Octavian Buda: “The whole area there, both behind the National Library and opposite it, has remained an empty plot of land where Ceaușescu wanted to build some sort of congress centre. So the demolition took place sometime around 1985. One thing that made a particularly strong impression on me was visiting Liverpool. The city has a building called the Liverpool Medical Institute, which looks remarkably similar to the former Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bucharest. It has much the same structure, with a very large and beautiful entrance hall and an amphitheatre. It has a few more columns than our old morgue. The resemblance is unmistakable: the colonnades, the entrance used by the director and as the main access to the building, and then the interior beyond it.”
The beautiful lost building had all the necessary facilities. Octavian Buda: “What is truly remarkable is that such a beautiful and distinctive building could be created and inaugurated on the banks of the Dâmbovița. The institute had certain features that set it apart. It was not merely a morgue where bodies were stored and autopsies performed. It had departments and laboratories for toxicology, anthropometry and identification, which gave these activities a high degree of specialisation. Initially, it was called the City Morgue, after which its name was changed to the Institute of Forensic Medicine. At the entrance to the institute was a room leading to the director’s office. Inside, there was the main autopsy room, with an upper gallery where students would sit all around and look down at the autopsy taking place below. There was another autopsy room, added later, areas where bodies were stored, a room for practical classes for students, the toxicology laboratory, the library and a museum containing all sorts of gruesome exhibits. The museum was open to visitors and was a kind of, as we might call it today, cabinet of curiosities, with all sorts of exhibits and extraordinary specimens. There was also a chapel, built in a beautiful neo-Gothic style, as well as the institute’s small and large amphitheaters.”
However, the history of the Institute of Forensic Medicine continued. After operating temporarily at the 23 August Hospital for several years, it moved in 1989 to a building in the style of totalitarian architecture, located on the south-eastern outskirts of the city. (EE)
