Cantacuzino Palace is located on Calea Victoriei no. 141, Bucharest, Romania. It was built by architect Ion D. Berindey in the Beaux Arts style, having a few Rococo Revival rooms. Today it houses the George Enescu museum.
History
The palace was built in 1901–1902 for Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino, mayor of Bucharest and former prime-minister, after the plans of Ion D. Berindey, in the French Beaux Arts style. After his death, the building was inherited by his son Mihail G. Cantacuzino, who died prematurely in 1929. Mihail's wife Maria remarried in December 1939 with music composer George Enescu. On 10th August 1913, at the end of the Second Balkan War, the Treaty of Bucharest was signed here. The building – known as Cantacuzino Palace at the time – also hosted the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in the eve of World War II.
After the death of George Enescu in 1955, his wife stated in her will that the palace would host a museum dedicated to the artist. In 1956, The National Museum George Enescu was established.
Description
The exterior and most of the rooms are Beaux Arts, the rest being Rococo Revival. The two lions at the entrance, and the gates and fences, in the Louis XIV style, give the building a princely look. The palace had the fame of a place in Bucharest where balls were held. For the decoration of the interiors, Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino turned to the most famous artists of the time: George Demetrescu Mirea, Nicolae Vermont and Costin Petrescu. Nicolae Vermont made six medallions (oil on canvas embossed on the wall), three of which were signed and dated 1907. Five of the six medallions are placed above the doors in the hallway that led to the rooms to the right of the entrance. Two of them, Shepherd with Sheep (Cioban cu Oile) and Peasant Woman with Vessel (Țărăncuță cu Cofă), are directly inspired by the work of Nicolae Grigorescu, under whose influence was their author.
In present day, about only five rooms can be visited, the rest being occupied by some institutions.

Cantacuzino Palace

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Crețulescu Palace (Palatul Crețulescu in Romanian, alternative spelling "Kretzulescu" or "Krețulescu") is a historic building near the Cișmigiu Gardens on Știrbei Vodă Street nr. 39, in Bucharest, Romania. It was built for the Crețulescu family in 1902–1904 by Romanian architect Petre Antonescu (1873–1965).
The palace was built for Elena Kretzulescu (1857–1930), the daughter of Constantin Kretzulescu (1798–1863) and Maria Filipescu (1835–1878). While she was away in Paris, Barbu Bellu lived for many years in this house.
From 1972 to 2011, the Crețulescu Palace housed the headquarters of UNESCO's European Centre for Higher Education UNESCO-CEPES (known as CEPES after its French name, Centre Europeén pour l'enseignement supérieur).

Crețulescu Palace

The Central University Library of Bucharest (Romanian: Biblioteca Centrală Universitară) is a library in central Bucharest, located across the street from the National Museum of Art of Romania.
History
When the University of Bucharest was created in 1864, there was no central university library; this role was played by the Central State Library of Bucharest until 1895. That institution was moved to and housed in the university building, and in 1867 was specially reorganised for the university's needs by the scholar August Treboniu Laurian. It had an unmistakable university quality, being governed by a special university committee (including the rector, the faculties' deans, the school ephor and the chief librarian as secretary), and the deans were always consulted for selection and purchasing. Nevertheless, the need for a proper central university library became increasingly apparent.
The present Central University Library was founded in 1895 as the Carol I Library of the University Foundation. It was built on land bought by King Carol I of Romania for the "Carol I University Foundation" (Fundația Universitară Carol I) and designed by French architect Paul Gottereau. The building was completed in 1893 and opened on 14 March 1895. In 1911, the building was extended by the same architect and the new wing was opened on 9 May 1914. It began with an initial stock of 3,400 volumes of books and periodicals. The collection grew to 7,264 volumes in 1899, 31,080 volumes in 1914, and 91,000 volumes in 1944. In 1949 (after its reorganisation on 12 July 1948 as the Central Library of Bucharest University), the collection contained 516,916 volumes; in 1960, about a million; and over 2 million in 1970.
During the Romanian Revolution of 1989, a fire was started in the building and over 500,000 books, along with 3,700 manuscripts, were burnt. Starting in April 1990, the building was repaired and modernized, being reopened on 20 November 2001.
Branch Libraries
In parallel with the development of the central library, a more complex network of specialised library branches was developed. For example, the Library of the Law Faculty was founded in 1873-76 (based on Professor Alexandru Lahovary's donation of books); in 1884 the Archaeological Seminary's Library was established through Professor Grigore Tocilescu's grant; and in 1892 the Library of the Slavic Languages Seminary began, based on Ion Bogdan's donation. These libraries functioned within the Faculty of Letters. Specialised libraries were also founded in the Sciences Faculty, such as the Mathematical Seminary's Library (after 1890), the Laboratory for Animal Physiology Library (1892, on the basis of Professor Alexandru Vitzu's grant); and the Laboratory for Plant Morphology Library (1893, using Professor D. Voinov's book donation). Until 1869, the Faculty of Medicine had only the customary collection, but by 1884 had a well-organised, specialised library.
In general, these libraries were founded and developed using teachers' donations, state grants and, after 1890, a percentage (usually 10%) of student-paid tuition.
Honours
Romania Romanian Royal Family: 81st Member of the Royal Decoration of the Cross of the Romanian Royal House.

Central University Library (Bucharest)

The Palace of the National Military Circle, also known as the Officers' Circle Palace (Romanian:Cercul Militar Național) is located on Constantin Mile street in Bucharest, Romania. It was built in 1911, based on plans drawn by chief architect Dimitrie Maimarolu, using French neoclassical style. The beneficiary was the Officers' Circle of the Bucharest military garrison, which was founded in 1876.
History of the palace
The palace was built on the site of the old Sărindar monastery; the fountain in front of the palace bears its name. The construction was done by a team headed by architect Maimarolu, in collaboration with engineers Anghel Saligny and Elie Radu, together with Paul Saligny and Mircea Radu; the interior decoration was supervised by architect Ernest Doneaud .
During the 1916 German occupation of Bucharest in the First World War, the building's interiors were devastated. After the end of the war, the palace was officially inaugurated in 1923. During the communist period, the name was replaced with "Central House of the Army" (Casa Centrală a Armatei). In 1989, it was renamed the "National Military Circle" (Cercul Militar Național).
Today, the National Military Circle palace is considered a historic and architectural monument. It represents the central cultural institution of the Romanian army and it is also used for various cultural events and for representation and protocol purposes. The restaurant and the terrace are open to the public.
History of the Military Circle
The Officers' Circle of the Bucharest military garrison was founded on December 15, 1876; its first director was General Alexandru Zefcari. For a while, the Officers' Circle was housed in rental locations, near Regina Elisabeta Boulevard and Calea Victoriei.

Palace of the National Military Circle

The CEC Palace (Romanian: Palatul CEC) in Bucharest, Romania, built between 8 June 1897 and 1900, and situated on Calea Victoriei opposite the National Museum of Romanian History, is the headquarters of CEC Bank.
History
Before the construction of the palace, the location was occupied by the ruins of a monastery (Saint John the Great) and an adjoining inn. The 16th-century church was renovated by Constantin Brâncoveanu during 1702 - 1703, but later deteriorated and was demolished in 1875.
The palace was built as a new headquarters for Romania's oldest bank, the public savings institution Casa de Depuneri, Consemnațiuni și Economie, later known as C.E.C. (Romanian: Casa de Economii și Consemnațiuni), and nowadays CEC Bank. The land was bought and the building constructed with the institution's own funds. Work started on June 8, 1897 and was completed in 1900. The project was designed by the architect Paul Gottereau, a graduate of the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris; construction was supervised by the Romanian architect Ion Socolescu.
In 2009, it was the venue for the 60th birthday celebrations of Crown Princess Margareta of Romania, and in 2015 it was also the venue for the 25th anniversary of the celebration of Crown Princess Margareta's charity (FPMR).
Architecture
Built in eclectic style, the palace is topped by a glass and metal dome. The entrance features an arch supported by two pairs of columns in composite style. The four corners are decorated with gables and coats of arms and ending in Renaissance domes.

CEC Palace

The central part of the city, delineated by the Lipscani Street, the old Princely Court, the Dambovita riverbank and Victoria Road would gradually change its appearance. Springing up next to old merchant houses and inns were monumental buildings such as the National Bank Palace, the Savings Bank headquarters and the Postal Service Palace across the road, whose front was overlooking Victoria Road and whose backside was on Stavropoleos Street, close to the monastery of the same name created on the site of a former inn.
The Postal Service Palace, whose construction began in 1894, was also built on the site formerly occupied by an inn. The latter's history is illustrative of the tumultuous life of the city. The building of the inn itself was linked to Constantin Brancoveanu, whose long reign from 1688 to 1714 left an unmistakable mark on the history of Bucharest and the whole of Wallachia. Historian Dan Falcan tells us more:
"This inn was built on the site where the home of Constantin Balaceanu had been located. Balaceanu was a very important figure in the early days of Brancoveanu's reign because he was a sworn enemy of the latter. Balaceanu was the son-in-law of ruler Serban Cantacuzino, the uncle of Brancoveanu and the ruler who preceded him on the throne of Wallachia. He wanted Serban's son and his brother-in-law to come to power instead of Brancoveanu. This never happened but Balaceanu continued to plot against the new ruler, fleeing to the Austrians and organising a confrontation that came to an end in the Battle of Zarnesti in 1690. The Austrians were defeated and Constantin Balaceanu was taken prisoner and beheaded, while his property was confiscated by Brancoveanu, including his houses located on what is today the site of the National History Museum. According to the chroniclers of the day, the decapitated head of Constantin Balaceanu remained for quite a while impaled on a pole in front of his home. Brancoveanu then demolished the houses and built an inn that would become famous and which survived well into the 19th century. This was one of the most important inns in Bucharest, together with Gabroveni Inn and Manuc Inn."
However, inns started to disappear in the first half of the 19th century. It was then that the Constantin Brancoveanu inn, which had fallen into in ruin, was demolished. A modern, tall building, emblematic for new and less troubled times was built on the site of the old inn. The new palace hosted the central post, a vital institution at the time, as it was the major means of communication. The building was designed by one of the first Romanian architects who studied in Paris. Historian Dan Falcan has more:
"The architect who received the mission to design and make the blueprints for the building, Alexandru Savulescu, together with the then director of the Post Service travelled extensively across Europe to see how the headquarters of the central posts in more developed countries looked like. They travelled extensively for two three years until they finally decided to design a building similar to the Central Post Office in Geneva. The current Postal Service Palace looks very much like the postal service palace in Geneva. Construction works started in 1894. For 32 years, between 1862, when Brancoveanu's inn was demolished, and 1894, that vacant plot of land was used by travelling circuses that arrived in Bucharest. The cornerstone was laid in 1894, with the royal family, King Carol I and Queen Elisabeta, in attendance. Construction works were completed in 1900. It is a grandiose building, as we can see it today. It cost a lot. Alexandru Savulescu was part of the generation of Romanian architects who had studied in Paris. They copied the eclectic, neoclassical style, which was in fashion in the French capital city back then. The Postal Service Palace was also built in that style. 10 Doric columns, with 9 vaults, guard the façade."
Since its inauguration in 1900, the Postal Service Palace had kept its function until 1971, when Romania's National History Museum was laid out inside the building. The museum was inaugurated in 1972 and is still open to visitors.
https://www.rri.ro/

The Postal Service Palace

Founded by great sword-bearer Mihai Cantacuzino (the equivalent of a minister today) in the 17th century, ColţeaHospital was not only the first hospital in Bucharest but also one of the first bases of medical education in Romania. With a history of over three centuries, the hospital located in the heart of Bucharest is today one of the top medical institutions in Romania, operating in one of the most beautiful buildings in the center of the capital.
Colţea Hospital is part of the Colţea architectural complex - a landmark of the modern Bucharest of the last century, and an important part of what the center of the capital is today. Moreover, this ensemble remained in the history of Bucharest as one of the most important and valuable constructions of the early 17th century.
The story of Colţea Hospital began when Mihai Cantacuzino, a descendant of one of the oldest families in Europe - the Cantacuzino family, bought a small wooden church and the land around it to build the most important of his constructions, namely the Colţea monastery ensemble. This ensemble bears the name of Colţea Doicescu, the man who sold the land on which the small wooden church was built to the great sword-bearer Cantacuzino.
The Colţea monastery complex, built between 1698-1714, included the large church, three chapels symmetrically arranged on the eastern, northern and southern sides of the church, and the first hospital in Bucharest, which is still functional and is known today as the Colţea Hospital. The hospital was inaugurated in December 1704, but completed in 1706. It was the first medical unit in Wallachia.
In the beginning, the hospital had 24 beds (12 for women and 12 for men) and operated based on the model of the hospital of S. Lazzaro e Mendicanti in Venice, being funded with money from the monastery. However, it was not what the hospitals are today, but an institution specialized in health problems of the poor who were sick or disabled.
During the reign of Ștefan Cantacuzino, a nephew of Mihai Cantacuzino, the entire architectural ensemble was surrounded by a wall and a gate tower, which was known as Colţei Tower. This was a landmark of the Bucharest of those times, being the tallest construction of the city in the 18th-19th centuries. It was demolished, however, in 1888, to make way for the future Brătianu Boulevard.
In 1739, a fire seriously affected the buildings forming the Colţea complex, including the hospital and the church. They were rebuilt but the earthquake in 1802 and the neglect of some trustees led to the ruin of the old hospital. A project to rebuild the hospital began in 1836 and took five years. At the time of reopening, the hospital had 60 beds. Moreover, the Small School of Surgery was also inaugurated at Colţea, this being the first school of medical education in the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which functioned until 1852.
The Colţea Hospital was then expanded in the coming years. For example, the first specialized departments - medicine and surgery - were set up in 1859, followed in 1863 by the ophthalmology department. The first workshop of medical instruments was opened a few years later in 1869. In addition, the hospital also became the first base of the National School of Medicine during this period. Some of the personalities who worked at Colţea Hospital are Petre Herescu, Constantin Angelescu, Aurel Babeş, Vintilă Ciocâlteu, Bazil Theodorescu, and Nicolae Kretzulescu.
However, this building didn’t survive either, being demolished and replaced in 1887.
The last 100 years have also brought major changes to the Colţea Hospital. Nearly 20 years ago, in 1999, the Government decided to modernize the Hospital and the Colţea Church, an investment that unfolded over a period of about 10 years. The medical, hospitalization and outpatient health care facilities, as well as the educational and research facilities and the amphitheater, were revamped. Investments were also made in high-performance equipment. Moreover, the gardens were also renovated, while the statue of Mihai Cantacuzino, which still stands today in the yard of the Colţea complex, was also restored.
Today, Colţea Hospital is one of the most modern medical units in Bucharest and in the country.
https://www.romania-insider.com/

Colţea Hospital

The National Museum of Romanian History (Romanian: Muzeul Național de Istorie a României) is a museum located on the Calea Victoriei in Bucharest, Romania, which contains Romanian historical artifacts from prehistoric times up to modern times.
The museum is located inside the former Postal Services Palace, which also houses a philatelic museum. With a surface of over 8,000 square meters, the museum has approx. 60 valuable exhibition rooms. The permanent displays include a plaster cast of the entirety of Trajan's Column, the Romanian Crown Jewels, and the Pietroasele treasure.
The building was authorized, in 1892, and the architect, Alexandru Săvulescu was sent with the postal inspector, Ernest Sturza, to tour various postal facilities of Europe for the design. The final sketches were influenced primarily by the postal facility in Geneva. Built in an eclectic style, it is rectangular with a large porch on a high basement and three upper floors. The stone façade features a portico supported by 10 Doric columns and a platform consisting of 12 steps spanning the length of the building. There are many allegorical sculptural decorative details.
As of 2012, the museum is undergoing extensive restoration work and it is only partially open; a late medieval archaeological site was discovered under the building.

National Museum of Romanian History

Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy (Romanian: Universitatea de Medicină și Farmacie „Carol Davila”) or University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, commonly known by the abbreviation UMFCD, is a public health sciences university in Bucharest, Romania. It is one of the largest and oldest institutions of its kind in Romania. The university uses the facilities of over 20 clinical hospitals all over Bucharest.
The Carol Davila University is classified as an "advanced research and education university" by the Ministry of Education. Created as part of the University of Bucharest in 1869, the institution is considered one of the most prestigious of its kind in Romania and in Eastern Europe.
Library
The university includes two major libraries, both built in 1869 in a neoclassical and neo-baroque style.
History
Carol Davila was a prestigious Romanian physician of Italian ancestry. He studied medicine at the University of Paris, graduating in February 1853. In March 1853, he arrived in Romania. He was the organiser of the military medical service for the Romanian Army and of the country's public health system.
In 1857, Davila, in collaboration with Nicolae Crețulescu, founded the university, at which time it was known under the name of the National School of Medicine and Pharmacy. In the same year, the foundation stone of the University Palace in Bucharest was laid. It was due to Carol Davila's many activities that several scientific associations appeared in Romania: the Medical Society (1857), the Red Cross Society (1876), and the Natural Sciences Society (1876). With his assistance, two medical journals entered print: the Medical Register (1862) and the Medical Gazette (1865).
On 12 November 1869, it was established the Faculty of Medicine of Bucharest, incorporated in the University of Bucharest. The first doctoral degrees were granted in 1873, and the doctoral degree became the de facto graduation in 1888.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to George Emil Palade, described as "the most influential cell biologist ever", who had studied at the University of Carol Davila and later served as a Professor and Head of the Department of Human Biology and Physiology.
The School of Pharmacy was founded in 1889 as part of the Faculty of Medicine. In 1923, it was separated and it became the Faculty of Pharmacy.
The Faculty of Pharmacy of Carol Davila University is the place where insulin was isolated for the first time by Nicolae Paulescu in 1921, leading to a controversy in the awarding of the 1923 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.
In 1948, the Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy were separated from the University of Bucharest, and incorporated as the Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy. In the same year, the postgraduate Clinical Dentistry Institute was incorporated into the Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy as the Faculty of Dentistry.
In 1991, the Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy changed its name to the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy.
Ranking
According to the Scimago Lab, based on data collected between 2007 and 2011, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy ranked 121 regionally and 12 in the country by number of publications. According to the International Journal of Medical Sciences, in a 2019 survey UMFCD along with Karolinska Institute, Erasmus University, and Paris Descartes University are considered Europe's medical universities that are leading change. Based on the Shanghai Ranking, the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy lies among the top 151–200 Universities in the “medical sciences” domain with regards to the subject "clinical medicine”.
Faculties
Faculty of Medicine
Faculty of Pharmacy
Faculty of Dentistry
Faculty of Medicine
The higher medical and pharmaceutical education in Bucharest dates back more than a century. Carol Davila, a Romanian physician of Italian origin, in collaboration with Nicholae Kretzulescu founded the Medical education in Romania, by establishing the National School of Medicine and Pharmacy in 1857. Thanks to his activity a number of scientific societies were created, such as the Medical Society, the Red Cross Society and the Natural Sciences Society, and two medical journals, The Medical Monitor and The Medical Gazette.
The building of the Faculty of Medicine was fully completed and inaugurated on 12 October 1903. The initiative to erect a monument to Carol Davila on the same day, was taken at the first national medical conference, which was held in Bucharest in October 1884. The statue, valued work of Carol Storck, was cast in bronze in the School of arts and crafts workshops in Bucharest.
The inauguration of the faculty building is an important date in the evolution of medical education in Bucharest. The new building brought great improvements in the functioning of laboratories and the organization of practical work, as well as in the full didactic activity. In the faculty building there is a fully organized sports center that includes an autonomous indoor swimming pool for the university's representative successful team and in addition an indoor basketball, volleyball and handball court.
Faculty of Pharmacy
The Faculty of Pharmacy was created in 1858.
Notable alumni
Aurel Babeș, Romanian scientist, one of the discoverers of the screening test for cervical cancer
Mina Minovici, Romanian forensic scientist
George Emil Palade, 1974 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and United States National Medal of Science in 1986
Nicolae Paulescu, Romanian physiologist, professor of medicine, politician, discovered insulin.

Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy

The Palace of Justice (Romanian: Palatul Justiției), located in Bucharest, Romania, was designed by the architects Albert Ballu and Ion Mincu and built between 1890 and 1895. The foundation stone was laid by King Carol I of Romania on October 7, 1890. The façade of the building is adorned with several statues representing allegories: Law, Justice, Justice, Truth, Force, and Prudence; the statues are the work of sculptors Carol Storck and Frederic Storck.
Located on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, the palace houses the Bucharest Court of Appeal, the Sector 5 Court, the National Union of Romanian Bars, and the Bucharest Bar. Its last major restoration was between 2003 and 2006.
The Palace has 690 rooms with a total area of 33,235 m2 (357,740 sq ft).

Palace of Justice (Bucharest)

The Palace of the Parliament (Romanian: Palatul Parlamentului), also known as the Republic's House (Casa Republicii) or People's House/People's Palace (Casa Poporului), is the seat of the Parliament of Romania, located atop Dealul Spirii in Bucharest, the national capital. The Palace reaches a height of 84 metres (276 ft), has a floor area of 365,000 square metres (3,930,000 sq ft) and a volume of 2,550,000 cubic metres (90,000,000 cu ft). The Palace of the Parliament is the heaviest building in the world, weighing about 4,098,500,000 kilograms (9.04 billion pounds; 4.10 million tonnes), also being the second largest administrative building in the world.
The building was designed and supervised by chief architect Anca Petrescu, with a team of approximately 700 architects, and constructed over a period of 13 years (1984–97) in Socialist realist and modernist Neoclassical architectural forms and styles, with socialist realism in mind. The Palace was ordered by Nicolae Ceaușescu (1918–1989), the president of Romania and the second of two long-ruling heads of state in the country since World War II, during a period in which the personality cult of political worship and adoration increased considerably for him and his family.
Known for its ornate interior composed of 23 sections, the palace houses the two chambers of the Parliament of Romania: the Senate (Senat) and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputaților), along with three museums and an international conference center. The museums in the Palace are the National Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Communist Totalitarianism (established in 2015) and the Museum of the Palace. Though originally named the House of the Republic when under construction (Romanian: Casa Republicii), the palace became widely known as The People's House (Romanian: Casa Poporului) after the Romanian Revolution of December 1989. Due to its impressive characteristics, events organized by state institutions and international bodies such as conferences and symposia take place there, but despite this about 70% of the building remains empty.
As of 2020, the Palace of the Parliament is valued at €4 billion, making it the most expensive administrative building in the world. The cost of heating, electricity, and lighting alone exceeds $6 million per year, comparable to the total cost of powering a medium-sized city.
Location
The Palace is in Sector 5 in the central part of Bucharest, at the top of Dealul Spirii (Spirea's Hill), also known as Dealul Arsenalului (Arsenal Hill). It is at the west end of the 3.5-kilometre (2.2 mi) Bulevardul Unirii (Union Boulevard), constructed at the same time as the Palace, and is ringed by Izvor Street to the west and northwest, United Nations Avenue to the north, Liberty Avenue to the east and Calea 13 Septembrie to the south.
History
The construction of the Palace of the Parliament was the most extreme expression of the systematization program imposed on Romania by Nicolae Ceaușescu. Systematization was a program of urban planning carried out by Ceaușescu, who was impressed by the societal organization and mass adulation he saw in North Korea's Juche ideology during his East Asia visit in 1971. Ceaușescu decided to implement similar policies in his country, with the stated goal of turning Romania into a "multilaterally developed socialist society."
A systematization project had existed since the 1930s (during the time of King Carol II) for the Unirii–Dealul Arsenalului area. The Vrancea earthquake of 4 March 1977 gave Ceaușescu a pretext to demolish parts of old Bucharest. He wanted a civic center more in line with the country's political stance and started a reconstruction plan of Bucharest based on the socialist realism style. The House of the Republic was the centrepiece of Ceaușescu's project. Named Project Bucharest, it began in 1978 as an intended replica of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. North Korean President Kim Il-sung had started construction on a similarly monumental residence, the Kumsusan Palace, two years earlier.
A contest was held and won by Anca Petrescu (1949–2013), who was appointed chief architect of the project at the age of 28. The team that coordinated the work was made up of 10 assisting architects, which supervised a further 700. Construction of the palace began on 25 June 1984, and the inauguration of the work was attended by Ceaușescu, who also frequently inspected the site.
Uranus Hill was leveled so the building could be erected. The area had also been home to the National Archives, Mihai Vodă Monastery and other monasteries, Brâncovenesc Hospital, as well as about 37 old factories and workshops. Demolition in the Uranus area began in 1982. Approximately 7 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi) of the old city centre were demolished, with 40,000 people being relocated from the area. The works were carried out with forced labour in addition to soldiers, minimizing costs.
Between 20,000 and 100,000 people worked on the site and project, operating in three shifts made up of 5,000 Romanian People's Army soldiers and huge numbers of "volunteers".
In 1989, the building costs were estimated at US$1.75 billion, and in 2006 at US$3 billion. In 1990, Australian-born business and media magnate Rupert Murdoch tried to buy the building for US$1 billion, but his bid was rejected.
After 1989
Since 1994, the palace has housed the lower house of the Romanian Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, after its former seat, the Palace of the Chamber of Deputies (now the Palace of the Patriarchate), was donated by the State to the Romanian Orthodox Church. Since 2004, the upper house, the Senate of Romania, has also been housed in the Palace of the Parliament, after having left the former headquarters of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party.
Six years after the palace's completion, between 2003 and 2004, a glass annex was built alongside the external elevators. This was done to facilitate outside access to the National Museum of Contemporary Art, which opened in 2004 in the west wing of the palace. During the same period, a project aiming to hoist a huge flag was cancelled following public protests. A flag already hoisted outside the building was also removed after the protests.
A restaurant inside the palace, accessible only to politicians, was refurbished. Since 1998, the building has also housed an office for the Regional Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) Centre for Fighting Transborder Crime.
In 2008, the Palace hosted the 20th summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In 2010, politician Silviu Prigoană proposed re-purposing the building into a shopping centre and entertainment complex. Citing costs, Prigoană said that the Romanian Parliament should move to a new building, since they occupied only 30% of the massive palace. While the proposal sparked debate in Romania, politician Miron Mitrea dismissed the idea as a "joke".
The palace has also been the background for several motorsports events, including the 2011 Drift Grand Prix Romania, which brought together professional drifters from all over Europe.
Copyrights over the building's image
Although the Palace of the Parliament was financed from public funds and the architects did work for hire, after the death of chief architect Anca Petrescu, her heirs sued the Chamber of Deputies for using images of the iconic building without authorization. The chamber was accused of copyright infringement for selling photos and souvenirs depicting the building's image. In other lawsuits, the heirs claimed violation of trademarks owned by the chief architect through the depiction of the palace from different angles.
While legal experts state that no restrictions exist for tourists wishing to photograph the iconic building for non-commercial purposes, Petrescu's heirs have clearly set out that any commercial use of the building's image is subject to a 2% royalty fee. It is believed the situation could have been avoided if an agreement between the chief architect and the beneficiary (Romanian State) had addressed the intellectual property rights and Romania had implemented freedom of panorama, restricting the scope of copyright law in such cases.
Technical details
Construction of the palace began in 1984 and was initially scheduled for completion in two years. The project was extended to 1990, but remains uncompleted to this day. Only two large meeting rooms and 400 others have been finished or are even being used, out of a total of 1,100.
The building has eight underground levels, the deepest housing a nuclear bunker, linked to main state institutions by 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) of tunnels. Nicolae Ceaușescu feared nuclear war. The bunker is a room with 1.5-metre (4.9 ft) thick concrete walls said to be impervious to radiation. The shelter is composed of a main hall – headquarters which would have had telephone connections with all military units in Romania – and several residential apartments for state leadership, to be used in the event of war.
The palace's floor area of 365,000 square metres (3,930,000 sq ft) makes it the world's third-largest administrative building after the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C. in the United States and the Sappaya-Sapasathan in Thailand. It is also among the most massive buildings in terms of volume, measuring 2,550,000 cubic metres (90,000,000 cu ft): for comparison, the building exceeds by 2% the volume of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, leading some sources to label it "pharaonic".
The Palace of the Parliament sinks 6 millimetres (0.24 in) each year due to its weight. Romanian specialists who have analyzed the data have explained that the palace's massive weight is causing the layers of sediment below the building to settle.
Materials
The building was constructed almost entirely of materials of Romanian origin. Among the few exceptions are the doors of Nicolae Bălcescu Hall, received by Ceaușescu as a gift from his friend Mobutu Sese Seko, longtime totalitarian President of Zaire (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Among the materials are 3,500 tonnes of crystal – 480 chandeliers, 1,409 ceiling lights and mirrors were manufactured; 700,000 tonnes of steel and bronze for monumental doors and windows, chandeliers and capitals; 1,000,000 cubic metres (35,000,000 cu ft) of marble, 900,000 cubic metres (32,000,000 cu ft) of wood (over 95% domestic) for parquet and wainscotting, including walnut, oak, sweet cherry, elm, sycamore maple; 200,000 square metres (2,200,000 sq ft) of woolen carpets of various dimensions (machines had to be moved inside the building to weave some of the larger carpets); velvet and brocade curtains adorned with embroideries and passementeries in silver and gold.
In popular culture
The Palace of the Parliament has featured in a variety of films, most famously as the Vatican in the 2018 horror film The Nun. Other films include War Dogs, starring Jonah Hill; Dying of the Light, starring Nicolas Cage; and What About Love (2022), starring Sharon Stone and Andy García.
It also appeared on an episode of Top Gear in 2009, titled "Romanian GT Road Trip to Find the Transfagarasan Highway".