Elisabeta Palace in Bucharest, which
\nserves as the residence of Her Majesty Margareta, the Custodian of the Crown and
\nof the royal family of Romania, is now open to visitors, who are able to see art
\nworks and objects belonging to former kings and queens of Romania. A project
\ninitiated by the Casa Majest\u0103\u021bii Sale Association, this royal exhibition takes
\nvisitors on a guided tour of this historical building located close to the Arch
\nof Triumph and one of the city’s most popular tourist destinations, the Village
\nMuseum. The first edition of the exhibition was held in July and August this
\nyear and was organised with the help of volunteers, mainly students, who acted
\nas guides and made presentations in Romanian and other languages. Ion Tuc\u0103, the
\nexecutive director of Casa Majest\u0103\u021bii Sale Association, tells us more about how
\nthis exhibition was organised:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We had to organise the interior of
\nElisabeta Palace so as not to alter this place which is the residence of the royal
\nfamily, and where the late King Michael used to live. We wish to present to the
\npublic those objects that are of greatest interest and it is with great
\npleasure and honour that I can tell you that the marshal uniforms of his
\nMajesty King Michael, who have been excellently preserved in Switzerland, were brought
\nfor the first time to Romania and that the exhibition gives visitors the opportunity
\nto see them for the first time after World War Two. The opening is scheduled on
\nthe 22nd of October, around the birthdate of His Majesty the King,
\non the 25th of October, when Romania also celebrates Army Day. It
\nwill last until 8th November, on the Feast Day of St Michael and St
\nGabriel. In addition to the first stage of the exhibition, this time visitors
\ncan also see the photographs of Daniel Angelescu, the official photographer of
\nthe Royal House. They show King Michael as a child, then as an adolescent, up
\nto the war and afterwards, until the modern era.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nbuilding housing Elisabeta Palace is just as interesting as the exhibition it
\nis hosting. Built in a combination of Moorish architecture with the vernacular
\nBrancoveanu style in 1936, the palace was a gift from the then monarch King Carol
\nII to his sister and former queen of Greece, Elisabeta. The latter didn’t live here
\nmuch, preferring instead the Banloc Castle in Timi\u0219, in the west of country. When
\nthe Royal Palace came under attack from German airstrikes in August 1944, King Michael
\nasked his aunt’s permission to move his royal court here, a function the palace
\nretained until 1947 when the communist regime supported by the Soviets forced Michael
\nto abdicate. But here’s Ion Tuc\u0103 again with more about what visitors will be
\nable to see during the guided tour of the palace:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Visitors
\nwill be able to see all the spaces used by the royal family for public events,
\nas well as objects from the collection of the royal family and the original
\nfurniture that has been preserved since the palace was built in 1936. Entry is
\nmade via the King Michael Hall, where visitors can admire four contemporary art
\nworks by Henry Mavrodin depicting King Michael, Queen Anne, Her Majesty
\nMargareta, the custodian of the Crown, and her husband, His Royal Highness Prince
\nRadu.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The King
\nMichael Hall also houses a collection of traditional Romanian costumes that
\nused to belong to Queen Mother Elena, the wife of King Carol II and the mother
\nof King Michael. The tour of the palace then takes visitors to various rooms
\nincluding the Contemporary Art Gallery, a hall named after Carol I and Elisabeth,
\nRomania’s first monarchs, and the White Hall, which leads to His Majesty’s Office,
\na room which King Michael was only able to use again 53 years after he abdicated.
\nIon Tuca tells us more:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nking’s office is where Gheorghiu Dej and Petru Groza forced King Michael to
\nabdicate in 1947, telling him that if he refuses to do so they would kill 1,000
\nstudents detained by the state security police. This room is laden with
\nhistory. It is where the king began after 2001 to receive people and where he
\nread the papers and his correspondence. It is now used by Her Majesty Margareta
\nin exactly the same way.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The guided
\ntour of Elisabeta Palace then takes visitors to the Kings Hall and the Marble
\nHallway, whose walls are covered by works of art, decorations and royal orders
\nand the military uniforms that used to belong to King Michael. The Great Dining
\nHall, where official dinners are held, then leads out into the gardens. A
\ngarden party is given here every year on the 10th of May to celebrate
\nMonarchy Day. Visitors can see here the Tree Memorial, consisting of trees
\nplanted by royal personages and heads of state that have visited Elisabeta
\nPalace since 2001, when it became the residence of King Michael and the Romanian
\nroyal family. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Residence of Margareta, daughter of Romanias last king and Custodian of the Crown, is temporarily open for visitors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":162997,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44685],"tags":[32349,37089],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-162996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-of-culture","tag-exhibition","tag-royal"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n