Romania’s
\ncapital Bucharest has more than 2.4 million inhabitants and is the sixth
\nlargest city in the European Union. Bucharest is on the foreign tourists’ list
\nof favourite destinations in Romania, alongside the Black Sea coast, the Danube
\nDelta, Bukovina and Maramures. In spite of the fact that it is located in a
\nplain area, its terrain is not totally flat. Elevation, however, does not
\nexceed 100 metres. Adriana Nica, an executive director with a tourism training
\ncompany, is our guide through the city of Bucharest. We start our journey from
\nthe Victory Road, the city’s most important road and one of its main attractions:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This is one of the most
\nimportant boulevards in Bucharest. It boasts many tourist, historical, cultural
\nand spiritual points of attraction.. But before we talk about them, we should
\nknow where the boulevard’s name comes from and why this is such and important
\nroad. Until 1692, Bucharest had two roads. The Brasov Road, which started from
\ntoday’s Victory Boulevard going down to the Palace of the National Military
\nCircle, and Ulita Mare, the Large Street, towards Sarindari, stretching from
\nSarindari Church to the Nations’ Square. The Palace of the National Military
\nCircle was built on the site of the old Sarindari Church. In 1692, ruler
\nConstantin Brancoveanu united the two roads into a single one, named Podul
\nMogosoaiei, – the Mogosoaia wood-paved road. On October 8th, 1878,
\nthe Romanian army made its triumphal entry into Bucharest, marching
\nvictoriously along Mogosoaia Road. In order to mark this victory and serve as a
\nreminder for the coming generations on how the country’s independence was won,
\nthis major street was named the Victory Road. The Victory Road practically
\nmarks Romania’s winning its independence in the 1877 – 1878 war. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to Adriana Nica, not only is
<\/p>\n The next important site on
<\/p>\n
Opposite the Athenaeum building lies the Royal Palace. Over 300
<\/p>\n Adriana Nica, the executive director of
<\/p>\n
The Savings Bank Palace, also on Victory Road, is another impressive
<\/p>\n
Across the street from the Savings Bank Building there stands the
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Romania’s capital Bucharest is the sixth largest city in the EU<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":149145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43423],"tags":[28915,44123,39439,44122,44125,44126,44124,44121],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-149144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travellers-guide","tag-bucharest","tag-cantacuzino-palace","tag-national-art-museum","tag-palace-of-the-national-military-circle","tag-royal-palace","tag-savings-bank-palace","tag-the-athenaeum","tag-victory-road"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nthe Victory Road a major thoroughfare but it is guarded by many historical sites and important buildings: We have made a selection of
\nthe most important attractions in the city. The first stopover we recommend is
\nthe National George Enescu Museum housed by the Cantacuzino Palace. The building
\nis a genuine architectural gem, built around 1903 by Gheorghe Grigore
\nCantacuzino. The Romanian composer George Enescu lived for a while in the
\nCantacuzino Palace and after his death, in 1956 the building was turned into a
\nmuseum dedicated to the composer’s life and work.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nVictory Road is the Romanian Athenaeum. Adriana Nica: The Athenaeum was
\ninaugurated back in 1889 and was built with money obtained from a public fund
\nraising campaign, entitled ‘Give one Leu for the Athenaeum’ , the Leu being the
\ncountry’s national currency. It took several years to raise all the money and
\nthe building became the reason why Bucharest was called the Little Paris. It
\nwas built in the neo-classical style but it also has eclectic elements and
\nelements belonging to the 19th century French architecture.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nyears ago, in 1659, when the capital of Wallachia was moved from Targoviste to
\nBucharest, you could find in that emplacement the far end of Mogosoaia Bridge,
\nwith the buildings at the edge of town, a house and Cretulescu Monastery. <\/p>\n
\na tourism training agency told us: This house, which later was turned into the Royal Palace,
\nchanged ownership several times, being owned by several wealthy clerics, and
\nlater, in 1833, it was sold to the Administrative Council. They decided to turn
\nit into the prince’s residence, and the palace underwent improvements made by
\nseveral architects, among them the famous Xavier Villacrosse. During the rule
\nof Alexandru Ioan Cuza, in 1860, the palace had its interior improved, with
\ndecorative art in Napoleon III style. Under the reign of Carol I, the princely
\npalace was turned into the royal palace. Even if the interior was not exactly
\nimpressive, Carol I managed to make it elegant and refined, putting in statues
\nand paintings. The palace was further adorned by a valuable international
\npainting collection, with Renaissance and Baroque pieces. Today, the collection
\nis in the Royal Palace and Romania’s National Art Museum. King Ferdinand I
\nordered modifications to the palace, which were completed by Carol II, in 1940,
\nwhen Romania was at war. Carol II’s favourite architect was Arthur Lorenz, who
\nwas the chief architect of the court. After King Michael I’s forced abdication,
\nthe communists turned the palace into a National Art Museum. <\/span><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nbuilding. Adriana Nica: The Savings Bank Palace is still an architectural
\nicon of the Little Paris and was inaugurated in 1900. It was built in the
\nFrench Neo-Baroque style, with tripartite facades, meant to highlight its shape
\non the Victoria Road. The top of the building is a dome made of massive glass
\nand metal. The building’s resistance it rendered by its entrance crowned by a
\nsemi-circle gable supported by composite style columns. Other Renaissance-style
\nbuildings cover four volumes of corner, in turn decorated with gables and
\ncoats-of-arms. Exceptional fixtures of the fa\u00e7ade and the balance of volumes
\nhave stood the test of time. So none of the tremors that have shaken Bucharest
\nhave damaged the structure of the building. On the premises, in the palace
\nthere is also a museum, inaugurated in September 2005.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nPost Office Palace, which was also inaugurated in 1900. The neo-classical
\nbuilding also has an inner courtyard, while the outer aspect of the building,
\nas Adriana Nica told us, seems to be inspired from the Post Office Palace in
\nGeneva. Until 1972, the palace hosted the central headquarters of the Post
\nOffice in Bucharest. The National Museum of History was inaugurated in the Post
\nOffice palace in 1971.<\/p>\n