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This is a guest post from Sam Jones, a travel writer for HomeAway.
Bucharest is the capital city and the main gateway into Romania. Although poverty is still a factor, the country has come a long way in recent years. Since entering into the EU, transport and infrastructure improvements have started to attract business and commerce and what was once a very desperate situation has been slowly turned around. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in Bucharest where it is plain to see that this is a city on the move. It is not uncommon to see older more traditional architecture sitting alongside modern steel and glass commercial buildings. There are a number of palaces in Bucharest, some ugly and some beautiful. Here we take a look at some of them.
Ceau?escu’s Little Paris and the Palace of the People
In 2009, Bucharest celebrated its official 550th birthday. For a city that goes back that far, great change has come in a short period of time. Once known as Little Paris, there is some stunning architecture throughout the city and we can thank the ego and vanity of General Nicolae Ceau?escu who was head of state until overthrown and executed in 1989 for some of it. He wanted to create something in Bucharest that was along the lines of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. He wanted the boulevards to be just a little bit wider, the buildings to be just a little bit grander and the chestnut trees to grow just a little bit taller. The crowning glory was what was later to become known as Ceau?escu’s folly. The second largest building in the world, the People’s Palace is a stunning building that some would go as far as to call a monstrosity. It unfortunately reflects back on the ego, megalomania and desire of what was latterly a brutal and oppressive leader, to make his mark on Romanian society and the world. Many Romanians who lived in the city around this time reflect back to the traditional buildings that were torn down to make way for a building of this size.
The Royal Palace
The imposing building in the Revolution Square which is now the National Art Museum iwas first built around 1815 by Prince Dinicu Golescu but has undergone many changes since. In 1882 the building was extensively remodelled according to plans drawn up by the French architect Paul Gottereau. In 1926 it was damaged by fire and once again was rebuilt between 1930 and 1938. Since 1948 the palace has housed the National Art Museum where visitors can find a fantastic collection of European as well as Romanian art that dates back as far as the 15th century.
Cantacuzino Palace
Perhaps the one truly beautiful palace in Bucharest this stunning piece of architecture designed in the French baroque style and guarded by two huge stone lions. Formerly the home of Romania’s national composer George Enescu, this palace is now also a museum dedicated to the composer and displaying his personal items musical instruments and manuscripts. The man himself, preferred to live in a much more down to earth town house behind the main palace.
Visiting Bucharest is a great experience for the person who likes to study architecture within the context of its own unique societal and cultural influences. Admittedly the good the bad and the ugly can all be found but beyond that there is a vibrant city that is slowly becoming a bustling cosmopolitan city in true Western European style.
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