Old
Town
The town’s historic centre, sometimes referred to as
the Lipscani district, the name of the main street that runs through it, must
be one of the most authentic of its kind in Europe.
The isolation of Communism
and the turmoil of the 1990a allowed the area to develop organically; a
district of such ad hoc charm would have been fully harnessed by the tourist
industry elsewhere. This is now starting
to happen, as trendy (and expensive) cafes join the art, antique and junk
shops, and extensive renovation work is set to continue until at least summer
2010, but Lipscani retains its chaotic appeal.
In the Middle Ages, it was the most important
commercial centre of its principality, and today the streets bear the names of
the various traders who plied their wares on them centuries ago. There’s little
left of the Palatul Curtea Veche (Old Court Palace) itself, but enough of the
ruins remain to exude an old world atmosphere, and the Biserica Curtea Veche
(Old Court Church), dating from 1545 and the oldest in the city, is still
standing. The centre is approximately bordered by Piața Unirii to the south, Calea Victoiei to rhe west and
Bulevardul Bălcescu to the east, and extends a little to the north of Strada
Lipscani itself. The National Bank building at Lipscani 25 is one of the city’s most
attractive structures; another is the former CEC bank headquarters at Calea
Victoriei 11.
Metro:
Piața Unirii
Parcul
Herăstrău (Herăstrău Park)
Both the park and its lake of the same name are
hugely popular with promenaders, as the large number of cars parked nearby on a
weekend will testify. The joggers pounding the path that circumnavigates the
lake give the park an international flavour (Romanians have not traditionally
been keen joggers, although this is now slowly starting to change); so, too,
does the collection of top restaurants and trendy lakesides bars. If you want
to take to the water- and providing it is summer- you can either go it alone,
by renting a rowing boat, or do a half-hour cruise. Less appealing is the
somewhat rickety fairground.
Metro:
Aviatorilor Bus: 301
Piața
Revoluției
Taking its name
from being the location where teh Romanian Revolution (which started in
Timișoara) erupted in Bucharest, the square is one of the most important and
evocative of the city’s political history.
Many protestors died in the square in the violence
that was triggered there, and the authorities have duly made the effort to
create a contemplative atmosphere.
Several of the city’s most important buildings are
clustered here. To the north is the Athenee Palace Hilton, originally designed
by French architect Theophile Bradeau between 1912 and 1914. Today a haven of civilized
hospitality, its history is more nefarious. The hotel was a centre of espionage
both in the run-up to World War II and the Cold War, and it attracted a phalanx
of spies, plotters, plants and prostitutes. The Communists bugged every room
after the site was nationalized in 1948. It remained under state ownership
until 1914, when it was bought, modernized and expanded by the Hilton group,
but the sense of history (if not of
skulduggery) has been preserved.
In front to the left of the hotel is the Athenaeum,
beyond which is the former Central Committee of the Communist Party, now
ministerial offices, from the balcony of which Ceaușescu delivered his famous last speech. A plaque by the entrance
is dedicated to Romania’s young revolutionaries. Few cars or
pedestrians venture into the area just below the balcony, giving it a somewhat
desolate and somber ambience. There are two memorials to the revolution in this
part of the square. One is the traditional marble monument, with the dedication
‘Glorie Martirilor Noștri’
(To the Glory of our Martyrs). The second is a controversial modern sculpture,
Memorialul Renașterii, or the
Rebirth Memorial, inaugurated in 2005, with what is intended to represent a
crown impaled on a 25m (82ft) spike.
Undeniably
eye-catching, it has been criticised for a lack of taste and symbolism. On the
same side of the square, between the former Communist Party headsquarters abd
the Ateneul Român, is the Central University Library, which dates back to 1895
and is now occupied by the European Union. Tucked behind it is city’s
most bizzare-looking building. The bottom of it is a derelict-looking shell,
the remains of the Securitate (Communist Secret Police) building.
An ubermodern glass construction has been built within
and over it, to house the headquarters of the Romanian Architecture Union.
Few other symbols could better sum up Romanian’s
transition.
Directly opposite the ministerial offices and
monuments, on the other side of Calea Victoriei, which bisects the square, it
the National Art Museum in the Royal
Palace. To the south of the gallery is the Crețulescu Church, an
attractive red-brick building commissioned in 1722, making it among the city’s
oldest churches.
A blend of Byzantine and Western architecture with local touches, its porch is home to an
admirable collection of frescoes from the mid-19th century.
Metro:
Piața Romană, Universității Bus: 126
Piața
Unirii (Unirea Square)
The heart of
Ceaușescu’s civic centre, Piața Unirii is a large, flat square, in the middle of which
lies park of sorts (some patches of green flanking a pathway busy with
pedestrians trying to make their lengthy way from one side to the other).
Permanently teeming with traffic, the square is not the most pleasant place to
sit, but there are some attractive fountains and Piața Unirii is a great
vantage point for views of the Casa Poporului (People’s
Palace), which sits imposingly at the
end of Bulevardul Unirii. To the north
of the square is the Old Town. On
the east side is the Unirea shopping centre, with its exterior covered with
adverts.
There’s little of
interest to the visitors in it (apart from a few expensive tourist shops on the
ground floor), but it is popular with Romanians. The hill that rises from the
southwest corner of the square leads to Biserica Mitropoliei (literraly,
Metropolitan Seat), the Romanian Orthodox cathedral. It’s a huge complex,
containing frescoes, stone crosses and the Patriarchal Palace.
The centre of
Romanian Orthodoxy, at various religious festivals it’s descended upon by the
faithful in droves, and you can sometimes see long, overnight queues of people
wanting to touch a relie or perform a devotion.
Metro: Piața Unirii
Bus:
104, 116, 123, 124, 232, 312, 385.
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