5 places in the center of Bucharest with an intriguing history
Bucharest, the capital and commercial center of Romania, is also one of the richest cities in history in Europe, and considered by most Paris’ little brother.
Jump in the architectural history of earthquakes, war and communism and find out how Byzantine buildings, 16th century churches, Art Nouveau palaces and Neoclassical facades were affected and rebuilt in an even more astonishing way than before.
CEC Palace
Beginning with the year 1900 the CEC Palace was built as we know it today, serving as the headquarters to Romania’s oldest bank, the public savings institution, “Casa de Economii și Consemnațiuni” or C.E.C.
The architect who designed the project was Paul Gottereau who graduated from École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, while construction supervisor was the Romanian architect Ion Socolescu. The palace was built in an eclectic style, with a glass and metal dome at the top. Two pairs of columns hold the arch at the entrance, which host the symbolic clock. The four corners each feature a dome designed in Renaissance style.
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Macca-Villacrosse Passage
Very close to the CEC Palace is located the Macca-Villacrosse Passage. The fork-shaped, yellow glass covered arcaded street in central Bucharest, has a fairytale worth history. A big part of the old inn was bought by Petros Seraphim, who then left it to his two daughters. One of them married Chief Architect of Bucharest, Villacrosse, while the other married the luxury shop builder, Macca.
With the population’s growth, the city hall decided to build a passage in order to connect two big streets. As the central part of the area was occupied by Pesht Hotel, the passage was built with two lines, in the shape of a fork. The roof was built from glass, having both functional and aesthetic purpose. Of course, one of the two branches was called Macca, and the other Villacrosse. You can learn more about its history by actually visiting it, as it’s very close to the New Era Hotel.
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Royal Palace
The story of the Royal Palace starts long before its existence, when on the place of the present palace was only the stolnic Dinicu Golescu’s Mansion, which was later given to the first royal family, when Romania first became a kingdom. When prince Carol arrived, he enlarged and optimised the building in order to meet the needs and monumentality for official Royal duties. An unfortunate fire destroyed the old Royal Palace in 1926 and the building had to be rebuilt from scratch.
The new Royal Palace – which stands even today – was built between 1936 and 1937 under the supervision of Queen Marie and her son King Carol II, with Nicolae Nenciulescu as main architect. A complete rebuild was planned during World War II, but the project was never completed. Until 1944, a villa called “The New House” next to the palace was used as the house of the royal family, as the palace had only official large rooms. On the afternoon of 23 August 1944, Marshall Ion Antonescu was arrested at the order of King Michael, which led to Romania switching sides to the Allies; the following day, the German bombardment destroyed the villa and part of the palace.
credits: Observator Cultural
Old Princely Court
Maybe even better known than the fortress is its ruler, Vlad III Dracula or Vlad the Impaler. The Old Princely Court was built as a residence during his reign in 1459 and serves now as the historic center of Bucharest, after the archaeological excavations made in the 20th century. As Vlad the Impaler’s reign was defined by Turkish pressure and conflicts, Vlad had to permanently protect the southern border and stay in the fortified palace on the Dâmbovița banks.
Future rulers repaired and extended the palace, making it the economic nucleus of Bucharest and also built the princely Church of Saint Anthony which is now “the oldest religious building maintained in its original aspect in Bucharest”.
There is no tourist that visits the Old Town without checking out the ruins of what was once Dracula’s fortress – and neither should you, especially as it’s just a 3 minutes’ walk away from New Era Hotel!
By Nicubunu – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 ro, Link
Cișmigiu Gardens
Cișmigiu Gardens have an interesting background, beginning with its own name! The word “cișmigiu” has Turkish origins, meaning a public fountain or the person who builds and maintains a public fountain. As the Bucharest’s fountain keeper was living in the park, the name was kept through the years, even after his death.
In 1843, prince Bibescu had gathered German expert in horticulture, Wilhelm Friedrich Carl Meyer, and gardening, Franz Hörer, to start redesigning the area on which used to be a lake. From then on, they put much effort in setting up new lanes, bringing in new floral species from the country or outside of it and creating a Romantic setting near the rocks and the water.
Also, afar from the historical origins, the Cișmigiu Gardens have a literary importance for Rromanians. It represents the setting of two important Romanian writers’ works, Ion Luca Caragiale and Grigore Băjenaru.
The Cișmigiu Gardens is the closest park to the Old Town and is at the same time a location where art and romance meet in the air – or on the water, as in Spring, Summer and Autumn you can rent a boat to get in touch with the nature while floating in relaxation!
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We think that history is best understood when we can also relate it to the present time. So we encourage you to go and visit the places we talked above as you will definitely learn more about their stories, as for getting a touch of what was once there. Remember that you can always ask our personnel for recommendations or directions, as we want to give you the best tourist experience while in Bucharest!