The central part of the city, delineated by the Lipscani
\nStreet, the old Princely Court, the Dambovita riverbank and Victoria Road would
\ngradually change its appearance. Springing up next to old merchant houses and
\ninns were monumental buildings such as the National Bank Palace, the Savings
\nBank headquarters and the Postal Service Palace across the road, whose front
\nwas overlooking Victoria Road and whose backside was on Stavropoleos Street,
\nclose to the monastery of the same name created on the site of a former inn. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Postal Service Palace, whose construction began in
\n1894, was also built on the site formerly occupied by an inn. The latter’s
\nhistory is illustrative of the tumultuous life of the city. The building of the
\ninn itself was linked to Constantin Brancoveanu, whose long reign from 1688 to
\n1714 left an unmistakable mark on the history of Bucharest and the whole of
\nWallachia. Historian Dan Falcan tells us more:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This inn was built on the site where the
\nhome of Constantin Balaceanu had been located. Balaceanu was a very important
\nfigure in the early days of Brancoveanu’s reign because he was a sworn enemy of
\nthe latter. Balaceanu was the son-in-law of ruler Serban Cantacuzino, the uncle
\nof Brancoveanu and the ruler who preceded him on the throne of Wallachia. He
\nwanted Serban’s son and his brother-in-law to come to power instead of
\nBrancoveanu. This never happened but Balaceanu continued to plot against the
\nnew ruler, fleeing to the Austrians and organising a confrontation that came to
\nan end in the Battle of Zarnesti in 1690. The Austrians were defeated and
\nConstantin Balaceanu was taken prisoner and beheaded, while his property was
\nconfiscated by Brancoveanu, including his houses located on what is today the
\nsite of the National History Museum. According to the chroniclers of the day,
\nthe decapitated head of Constantin Balaceanu remained for quite a while impaled
\non a pole in front of his home. Brancoveanu then demolished the houses and
\nbuilt an inn that would become famous and which survived well into the 19th
\ncentury. This was one of the most important inns in Bucharest, together with
\nGabroveni Inn and Manuc Inn.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
However, inns started to disappear in the
\nfirst half of the 19th century. It was then that the Constantin
\nBrancoveanu inn, which had fallen into in ruin, was demolished. A modern, tall
\nbuilding, emblematic for new and less troubled times was built on the site of
\nthe old inn. The new palace hosted the central post, a vital institution at the
\ntime, as it was the major means of communication. The building was designed by
\none of the first Romanian architects who studied in Paris. Historian Dan Falcan
\nhas more:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The architect who received the mission to
\ndesign and make the blueprints for the building, Alexandru Savulescu, together
\nwith the then director of the Post Service travelled extensively across Europe
\nto see how the headquarters of the central posts in more developed countries
\nlooked like. They travelled extensively for two three years until they finally
\ndecided to design a building similar to the Central Post Office in Geneva. The
\ncurrent Postal Service Palace looks very much like the postal service palace in
\nGeneva. Construction works started in 1894. For 32 years, between 1862, when
\nBrancoveanu’s inn was demolished, and 1894, that vacant plot of land was used
\nby travelling circuses that arrived in Bucharest. The cornerstone was laid in
\n1894, with the royal family, King Carol I and Queen Elisabeta, in attendance.
\nConstruction works were completed in 1900. It is a grandiose building, as we
\ncan see it today. It cost a lot. Alexandru Savulescu was part of the generation
\nof Romanian architects who had studied in Paris. They copied the eclectic,
\nneoclassical style, which was in fashion in the French capital city back then.
\nThe Postal Service Palace was also built in that style. 10 Doric columns, with 9
\nvaults, guard the fa\u00e7ade.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Since its inauguration in 1900, the Postal
\nService Palace had kept its function until 1971, when Romania’s National
\nHistory Museum was laid out inside the building. The museum was inaugurated in
\n1972 and is still open to visitors. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After acceding to the throne of the Romanian Principalities in 1866, King Carol I set out to turn Bucharest into a modern capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":168490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45210],"tags":[28915,45350,45349],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-168489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rri-encyclopaedia","tag-bucharest","tag-national-museum-of-history-of-romania","tag-postal-service-palace"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n