An emblematic building for the entire Oltenia region is Băniei House.Whoever visits this historical and cultural edifice has the opportunity to step into the world of popular traditions, through the thematic exhibitions opened here. Băniei House is the oldest civil construction in Craiova, being erected in 1699 at the initiative of the ruler Constantin Brâncoveanu on the site of an older building from the fifteenth century, which had originally belonged to the large family of Craioveşti boyars. Băniei House is located in the central area of the city, in the immediate vicinity of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Demetrius, because here was the administrative and commercial heart of the town at that time. 

Historical reports show that the Craiova Divan was gathered here, and during the Austrian occupation, between 1718 and 1739, the building becomes the headquarters of the foreign administration, which fortifies it for defense. In 1750, the building was given by the ruler Grigore Ghica to the Bishopric of Ramnicu. Starting with 1850, the building becomes headquarters for various institutions of the town: Craiova Court of Law, the High School “Fratii Buzesti”, Local Seminar, State Archives. Since 1933, the building will house the Museum of Oltenia until 1948, when it passes under the use of the Metropolitan of Oltenia. Since 1966, the old monument of Brancovian architecture houses the Ethnography Section of the Oltenia Museum, having an invaluable patrimony that currently comprises over 9,000 pieces grouped onto traditional art collections, whether we are talking about traditional peasant tools, traditional musical instruments, ceramic instruments, carved wood, fabrics and carpets, leather goods, traditional costumes and clothes, painted eggs, religious icons and objects of worship. All these wonderful things, impossible to see and admire elsewhere, take us on a journey through the soul of Oltenia. Băniei House, this building loaded with meanings, offers to those present, but also to future generations, examples of spirituality of a rich historical, cultural and social heritage.