Bucharest is undoubtedly Europe’s best kept secret. Restaurants, bars, art galleries and museums are now springing up on every newly renovated corner. Travelers are steadily discovering this little gem of a city and seeking out Bucharest’s hidden character. Its treasures are well worth hunting for and visitors will find in their quest a place of warmth and spirit.

Welcome to Bucharest!

What you can see?

The former Royal Palace (nowadays the Art Museum)

The imposing building which used to be the Royal Palace is located in the Revolution Square (Piata Revolutiei), in the northwestern corner. It was first built around 1815 by prince Dinicu Golescu and it underwent changes over several decades. The building was remodeled in 1882-1885 after plans by the French architect Paul Gottereau only to be rebuilt in 1930-1938 after being damaged in a fire in 1926. Starting with 1948 the palace houses the National Art Museum and it displays an extensive collection of Romanian and European art dating from the 15th to the 20th century. The building was damaged during the events of December 1989 and was closed for several years for repairs.

Address: Calea Victoriei 49-53.

The Athenaeum

This is Bucharest's most prestigious concert hall and one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. It was built in 1888 in neo-classical style after a design by the French architect Albert Galleron. The project was conceived by the diplomat Constantin Exarcu and the money for the completion of the building were gathered in a public collection in which people were asked to "give a leu for the Atheneum" (The "leu" being the currency of Romania). With its 40 m high dome and the Doric columns it resembles an ancient temple. The beautiful facade is adorned with mosaics of five Romanian rulers. On the inside there are scenes from Romanian history. This is the place to hear classical music in Bucharest. The resident orchestra is George Enescu Philarmonic.

Address: Piata Revolutiei (Revolutiei Square).

Cantacuzino Palace (Palatul Cantacuzino)

This palace was designed by the architect I.D.Berindei in French baroque style and construction was started in 1899. Above the main entrance there is a giant shell-shaped porte-cochere; two stone lions guard the entrance. George Enescu - Romania's national composer - lived here for a period of time. The building belonged to his wife Maria Cantacuzino. In fact Enescu preferred a life of simplicity and he and his wife chose to live in a smaller town house that previously housed the administrative staff of the palace; this house is located behind the main palace. Nowadays the palace houses the George Enescu Museum which displays the musicians manuscripts (scores of his compositions) and personal belongings like one of his first violins.

Address: Calea Victoriei 141

The Army Club (Cercul Militar National)

This highly ornate building was designed in French neo-Classical style by Dumitru Maimarolu, Victor Stefanescu and Ernest Doneaud. Construction started in 1911 and ended in 1923 with most of the funds being donated by the Romanian Army officers. The Army Club replaced the monastery church of Sarindar which used to sit here. Address: junction of Calea Victoriei/Regina Elisabeta.

Central University Library (Biblioteca Centrala Universitara)

The Central University Library is a beautifully ornated building located opposite the Royal Palace in the Revolution Square. The library was founded by king Carol I and the building was designed by the French architect Paul Gottereau, who also designed the National Savings Bank (CEC) building. The building was heavily damaged during the December 1989 movement but was later restored and now it looks really pretty. Address: Piata Revolutiei – close to Athenaeum and vis-à-vis of National Art Museum.

Romanian Savings Bank or CEC Building

This beautiful building was designed in eclectic style by the French architect Paul Gottereau. Its construction began in 1894 on the site of a 16th century monastery Sf. Ioan cel Nou. This was the only bank that was allowed to do business during communism. Address: Calea Victoriei 13.

Villacrose and Macca Passages Villacrosse and Macca passages are two pedestrian alleys roofed with glass and wrought iron and lined with shops, cafes and restaurants. They were built at the end of the 19th century. Entrance from Calea Victoriei across the police headquarters and from E. Carada Street.

Calea Victoriei

Calea Victoriei (Victory Road) is one of Bucharest's most charming streets. It was built as a main road in 1692 under orders from Constantin Brancoveanu who needed a road to link his palace at Mogosoaia with the Old Court. In the beginning the street was known as Podul Mogosoaia - Mogosoaia Bridge - because it was paved with wood. In 1878 after the Romanian War of Independence the street's name became Calea Victoriei.

Between the two world wars Calea Victoriei became one of the most fashionable streets. Following this avenue from Piata Natiunilor Unite to Piata Victoriei you'll find some of the most beautiful buildings in Bucharest. Among these are Stavropoleos Church - on Str. Stavropoleous, few second away from Calea Victoriei, the National Savings Bank or CEC building, the Art Deco Telephone Palace, the Cretulescu Church, the Central University Library, the Romanian Atheneum, the Royal Palace which today houses the National Art Museum and the Cantacuzino Palace.

University Square (Piata Universitatii)

In the last 15 years University Square has proved to be a popular railing point at the time of national crisis as well as celebration: people gathered here during the 1989 revolution and the sad events of June 1990 and they continue to gather here every time the national team wins a soccer game (which unfortunately doesn't happen very often these days). If you see a lot of people loitering around the underground passage entrance in front of the National Theater is because it's probably the most popular meeting place in Bucharest. It's a place buzzing with crowds and traffic, a true center of activity. The square is surrounded by interesting architecture starting with the University of Bucharest building on the square's northwestern corner. Facing the university there are four statues of illustrious pedagogues and statesmen (but now they are moved them in Cismigiu Park for 2 years, because they want to build an underground parking). On the other northern corner, adjacent to the Intercontinental hotel, is the National Theater of Bucharest. Opposite it lies the beautiful building of the School of Architecture, behind a little square with a small fountain where people stop and sit when the weather is nice. On the southwestern corner of the square, the Bucharest History Museum traces the city history from the beginning to modern days and across from it lies the neo-Classical building of the Coltea Hospital and its lovely church. In the middle of the square, in a little island, there are ten stone crosses that pay homage to those killed during the 1989 revolution. Below the square there is an underground passage with shops and eateries which allows pedestrians to cross to from one side of the square to another and also leads to the subway station.

The University

Bucharest University is dominating one of the corners of University Square. The old building, in neoclassic style is facing Regina Elisabeta Boulevard. It was started in 1857 and finished in 1859. The buildings on the sides were built in 1912-1916. The University as an institution was created in 1864 by Alexandru Ioan Cuza, ruler of the newly united principalities, Wallachia and Moldova. All around the building you can find stalls selling secondhand books. Address: Piata Universitatii.

National Theater (Teatrul National)

The stocky building sitting on one of the corners of University Square is the National Theater. It was built in 1973 after plans by a group of Romanian architects. The old building of the National Theater was destroyed during the WWII. Originally the building had a different facade, modeled after the architecture of Moldova's monasteries but in 1984 it was remodeled and got its present massive shape. The theatre has 4 performance halls.The National Theater is named after the Romanian playwright and short-story writer Ion Luca Caragiale (1852-1912). His plays made fun of the politics and politicians and of the Romanian society of that day. For example the play that is considered to be his masterpiece, "A Lost Letter", written in 1884, describes a provincial government election won by a blackmailer. It's amazing how his works have the same power today as they did a century ago. Not only that, but recently I saw one of his plays being performed in California and I was surprised to see how the American public of today can relate to his story written in 1880.Last, if you feel like having refreshment, you'll find two bars located on top of the National Theater. One is an open terrace bar called "La Motoare", open only in summer; while the other one called "Laptaria lui Enache" is open during fall, winter and spring. They are usually crowded, especially in the late afternoon and evening and especially in the summer when it's difficult to find a table before 2AM in the morning. If you find a table, be prepared to share it. At Laptarie you can catch live music most of the evenings.

The Union Square (Piata Unirii)

The Union Square (Piata Unirii) is where the downtown starts. Two of Bucharest subway lines intersect here and the square is the site of one of the city's department stores, Unirea. Unfortunatelly this place was also Ceausescu's playground for experimentation, as the square was caught in his plan for "urbanization" and creation of the ugly soviet style Civic Center. To make way for his Civic Center Ceausescu ordered the demolition of all the buildings located in and around Unirii Square. The Brancovenesc Hospital, the Sf. Vineri Church, the Sf. Spiridon Church, the Vacaresti Monastery and many others historic buildings and monuments

as well as lots of private houses were virtually wiped out. It's worth coming here and seeing the Civic Center just for realizing how ugly the architecture is (the blocks of apartments are just ugly, but the fountains along the Unirii boulevard are truly hideous).

The Triumphal Arch (Arcul de Triumf)

In northern Bucharest, along Sos. Kiseleff lies Bucharest's Triumphal Arch (Arcul de Triumf). Modelled on the triumphal arch in Paris, the structure was erected in 1935-1936 to commemorate the creation of Greater Romania which took place in 1918. It sits on the spot where two earlier arches stood: the first arch made of wood and cardboard was erected in 1878 to mark Romania's independence from the Turks; the second arch made of timber was erected in 1922 to mark Ferdinand's entry into Bucharest as the first king of Greater Romania. The current arch is built of concrete and granite. Portraits of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie decorate one face, while the names of battles fought by Romanians during the First World War can be seen on the other face. The portraits of the king and queen were destroyed during the communist rule but they were restored in 1992. The sculptures decorating the arch were created by leading artists of the day, including Ion Jalea, D. Onofrei and Constantin Baraschi.

The Village Museum - the most beautiful museum in open air. The Village Museum, lying in a specific Romanian setting, on the Herãstrãu Lake shore in Bucharest, is one of the biggest and the oldest outdoors museum in Europe. Its exhibits - genuine monuments including houses, pens, churches, water and wind mills, cloth mills, of great historic and artistic value - acquaint the visitors in two hours with the specific of the Romanian village. The objects inside the households - carpets, pottery, rugs, icons, furniture - point to the originality of the folk creation, the sensibility and care for the beauty of the rural people. After this wonderful visit where you will see how the houses look from every region of Romania, you can choose a region that you liked more and maybe, you will keep in mind that is a place in Romania you really want to go and see it live and beside this, you will feel the people, will see how they leave in their homes. You will eat their traditional food from the region, because every region of our country has different customs, architecture, traditions, they prepare the food in different ways and for shore they live different.

Stavropoleos Church
Built in 1720, an inn, which provided income for the monastery and its surrounding buildings, functioned here until the end of the 19th century, when it was demolished along with the other structures. Designed by architect Ion Mincu, the building that now stands in the church precincts was erected in the early 20th century.

Within the monastery precincts there is a library, a refectory, where conferences are sometimes held, and also a collection of old religious objects, many of which are from churches demolished during the communist regime.

Those who abide at Stavropoleos Monastery not only pray but also work and study. They restore old books, vestments and icons, make embroidery, translate books, edit old music on computer, computerise the library.

The church is located in the old centre of the capital, near the old Hospodar Court and also the Doamna, Coltea and St. George churches, which are foundations dating from the time of Constantin Brâncoveanu. It is regarded by art historians as a synthesis, on a small scale, of Brâncoveanu architecture and decoration.

The church was built with a cupola, on a quadrilateral plan. Lateral apses and a porch on the west façade were later added, giving the church the triconch form characteristic of Muntenian architecture.

Viewed from the exterior, the church is elegantly and harmoniously proportioned, and has a wealth of stone carvings. The facade is decorated with medallions framed by vegetal decorative motifs, which stretch into arches whose form is reminiscent of oriental architecture. In 1733, when the inn church became a monastery church, an event recorded in the pisanie (votive stone), the porch, which in its arches harmoniously continues the decoration of the façade, had already been added. The new precincts, built to the plans of architect Ion Mincu at the beginning of the twentieth century, were to take up the same decorative system in the colonnade of the portico and in the buildings along the south and west sides, constructed in the neo-Romanian style of the time.

All the elements of the façade – sculpture, stucco-work and, in particular, the frescoes – masterfully complement and blend with each other, producing an original synthesis, echoed in other churches in the capital. In the exterior decoration, experts have noted the baroque sensibility and oriental taste specific to Brâncoveanu art and, in the sculpted decoration of the porch, elements also occurring in the baroque sculpture of Transylvania. In its carving and composition, the central scene on the parapet of the porch, Samson and the lion, is an obvious testimony to baroque influence. It is a symbolic representation of the resurrected Christ’s triumph over death. The stone ornamentation of Stavropoleos recalls the loggias of the Brancoveanu palace at Mogosoaia, as well as the columns of the now demolished Vãcãresti Monastery. The rich baroque decoration, painting and sculpture of the Stavropoleos ensemble served as a model not only for other churches but also for secular constructions.

The painting was completed in two stages: the interior and porch façade in 1784, and the lateral apses, altar, inner porch and church façade around 1730 This is evident in the votive picture, where the church has the original square plan, but especially in the different styles of the fresco painters.

In the choice of iconography there occur elements common to Romanian Land monastery churches at the beginning of the eighteenth century.
The cupola preserves only the basis of the original picture, the rest having been painted at the end of the nineteenth century by the priest Vasile Damian. It reproduces the initial composition of the subject of the Angelic Liturgy, which integrates harmoniously into the painting of the nave.

In the very center of the sculpted decoration the attentive observer will descry the bicephalous eagle, the emblem of Byzantium. Above it is placed the eagle with a cross in its beak, the escutcheon of the Romanian Land, which also occurs in churches in Wallachia or south of the Danube, recalling Romanian links to Byzantium and the connexions of the Phanariot rulers with the imperial Byzantine family.

PALACE OF THE PARLIAMENT

Right in the historical and geographical center of Bucharest stands an impressive building that strikes the eye by its particular style. It is the Palace of the Romanian Parliament, a "giant" built during the "golden age" of the dictatorial regime and born in the mind of a man for whom the notion of "reasonable size" did not exist.
Still, there is a "first place” no other building in the whole world could compete for, namely that of the most disputed one, as no other construction has, until nowadays, been the target of such a great number of epithets, varying from "genius" to "monstrous".
Built and rebuilt overnight, the haughty "Republic House" had swallowed tens of billions of lei and a huge volume of work before the Revolution.
The construction was started and raised while many Romanians experienced a period of privations. Probably that is the reason why, at the very beginning the building was the object of their hate.
After December 1989, the building which may easily be spotted wherever you are in Bucharest, was considered to be hideous and become subject to the most original ideas.
Some, out of the revolutionary excitement, agreed that it should be dynamited, as it stood for the symbol of communism. Others agreed that it could accommodate a museum of communism. There were also others, more extravagant, who talked about palms rustle, rolling dice on green tables, roulette... But the Palace was not to be a casino!
Realizing its enormous value, in fact a Romanian inheritance in danger of being destroyed and robbed, people began to view the building with less hostility and named it the "People's House".
As the people himself had experienced hunger and cold, it was now more than fair that he should act upon the destiny of the building.
Consequently, the builders resumed their work and, as the works were carried on, it was decided that the construction should be house the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of Romania, and that it should change its name to the "Palace of Parliament" - a symbol of democracy.
In May 1994, the International Conference Center was set up according to a decision of the Chamber of Deputies; the meetings of the Crans Montana Forum were held within its halls.
Thanks to its modern equipment and its massive halls, the International Conference Center can organize large conferences, seminars and other similar activities for Romanian state institutions or international organizations, as well as for Romanian or foreign individuals.

The Palace of Parliament is also open to be visited by groups of tourists, everyday.

The construction, started in July 1984, has 6 registers and 21 bodies. The pompous halls and galleries are generously decorated with monumental sculptures, golden plaster, laced ceilings, brocharts, tapestries and heavy carpets, which harmoniously overwhelm the visitors.
The Marble from Ruschita sends its reflections from the floors and columns to the walls and ceilings. The oak, mahogony and beck wood welcome the visitors with the warmth of their refined sculptures that may be equaled only by the plaster work or the crystals and the bross of the chandeliers.

Anyone visiting the Palace of Parliament, designed and built at great cost, effort and sacrifice by Romanian specialists and the whole of Romanian industry, comes to realize that this is not o palace from Aladdin's stories, but a real one, displaying the true wealth of Romania: stone, marble and wood from the Romanian mountains and forests.

Consequently, talking today about the architectural ensamble of the Palace of Parliament means to bring moral justice to the Romanian people and there are not a few foreigners who already have agreed upon it. We could only mention for instance:

Jean Paul Carteron - The President of the Crans Montana Forum: "The Romanian art and the Romanian's creativity have been gathered in this magnificent building, after years and years, at the price of great sacrifices and against any logic. Let us forget today the "one" who ordered it and let us praise the "one" who created it."

Catherine Lalumiere - General Secretary of the Council of Europe:

Today, the monumental building stands for the most precious symbol of democracy in Romania, that is the Parliament, serving the high and noble aim we have all aspired for: equal and complete representation of the Romanian people. "It has been a long way Romania covered during the last 4 years, since my first visit here in February 1990. You have even succeeded in taming this huge palace, the construction of a megalomaniac, but, at the some time, a masterpiece of the Romanian people."

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