Bucharest

Population: 1.945.000

Area: 228 km²

According to legend, Bucharest was founded by a shepherd boy named ‘Bucur’ whose name meant joy. He spread joy all around the place by playing his flute and the local traders were impressed with his wine and therefore Bucharest was named after Bucur.

Also known as “Little Paris” due to its boulevards filled with trees and beautiful buildings with many 18th and 19th century palaces and mansions now home to elegant casinos. The city has a reputation for high life, so tourists are bound to dine on a sumptuous dinner and dance all night to live music.

Bucharest sits on the banks of the Dambovita River and contains many lakes, including the small, man-made lake called Lake Cismigiu at the center of the capital. Near the lake are the Cismigiu Gardens, which opened in 1847 and have been visited by many famous poets and authors. The gardens are the main recreational facility in the city’s center. Continue reading Bucharest – Romania

Tourist attractions in Bucharest

House of the Free Press – An impressive edifice standing somewhat menacingly at the entrance to the capital, Casa Scanteii (as it is still universally known) was designed by architect Horia Maicu and completed in 1956, one year after the strikingly similar Palace of Science and Culture in Warsaw, Poland. Originally housing almost all of the capital’s printing presses and newsrooms, it, today, carries out much the same function, with the addition of the Bucharest Stock Exchange in the southern wing.

The Arch of Triumph – Initially built of wood in 1922 to honor the bravery of Romanian soldiers who fought in World War I, Bucharest’s very own Arc de Triomphe was finished in Deva granite in 1936. Designed by the architect, Petre Antonescu, the Arc stands 85 feet high. An interior staircase allows visitors to climb to the top for a panoramic view of the city. The sculptures decorating the structure were created by leading Romanian artists, including Ion Jalea, Constantin Medrea and Constantin Baraschi.

Calea Victoriei (Victory Avenue) – Calea Victoriei is Bucharest’s oldest and arguably, most charming street. Built in 1692 to link the Old Princely Court to Mogosoaia Palace, it was initially paved with oak beams. The street became Calea Victoriei in 1878, after the Romanian War of Independence victory. Between the two world wars, Calea Victoriei developed into one of the most fashionable streets in the city.Stroll along this street from Piata Victoriei to Piata Natiunilor Unite to discover some of the most stunning buildings in the city, including the Cantacuzino Palace, the historical Revolution Square, the Military Club, the CEC Headquarters and the National History Museum. Continue reading Tourist attractions in Bucharest

Parliament Palace - Bucharest

The Palace of the Parliament, ordered to be built by former president Nicolae Ceausescu, was raised between 1984 and 1989. It is the biggest administrative building in Europe and the second building in the world, after the Pentagon. The palace has 6000 rooms: hundreds of offices, tens of huge reception and ball halls and many conference halls. On the second floor there are two monumental halls (150 m. long, 18 m. high), as well as other 480 impressive rooms. The best quality marble or the huge chandeliers whose weight often bypasses 1 ton, such things make the palace look very impressive and luxurious, a perfect symbol standing for the despotism and craziness of the man that had it built. Continue reading Parliament Palace – Bucharest