Europe 2019 - Day 40 (Part 1)

15 June 2019, Saturday

My friend apologised to me in the morning and we were ok again. So then we headed out to explore Bucharest. The nearest tourist information centre was closed, and in fact most of the shops were still closed at 9 a.m. So we wandered around like headless chickens looking for a money changer or a tourist information centre.

In the process we walked across University Square which houses the University of Bucharest, which is quite near to our hostel. We also saw a beautiful Russian style church called the St Nicholas Church. It was built in 1905 on the initiative of the Russian Ambassador, and meant mainly for the use of the embassy employees, as well as for Russians living in Bucharest. But we were at the back of the church, and I made a mental note to come back later on our way back. 

Then luckily we saw a money changer just opening his shop so we accosted him and changed some money to lei. We also asked him if he knew a tourist information centre that was open, and he pointed us to inside a metro station. We found the centre and got a map with the tourist attractions marked out, bought metro tickets and properly began our explorations.

First, to the Triumphal Arch, where we happened to pass the Bucharest Municipal Museum on the way. The first, wooden, triumphal arch was built hurriedly, after Romania gained its independence in 1878, so that the victorious troops could march under it. Another arch with concrete skeleton and plaster exterior of elaborate sculptures and decoration was then built on the same site after WW I in 1922. The arch exterior, which had seriously decayed, was replaced in 1935 by the current Neoclassical design, closely modelled after the Arc de Triomphin Paris. The new arch, with a height of 27 metres, was inaugurated on 1 December 1936.

Next, to Victoria Palace, a government building on the very large Victory Square where the Prime Minister of Romania and his cabinet works. Its construction started in 1937 and completed in 1944. It suffered serious damage due to bombing during WW II, but was restored. It is a typical communist style building - square, brownish- grey, bleak and dreary.

Then to the National Opera House, founded by George Stephanescu, a composer (there is a statue of him outside the building in the garden) in 1953. We saw a monument known as the Monument to the Sanitary Heroes 1916-1920. This monument was built in 1932 and is dedicated to the memory of the medics, corpsmen and voluntary sisters who helped save lives during WW I. The base is made of marble. We also passed the Church of St. Elefterie, an Orthodox Church.

Next, to the Palace of Parliament, which was an old communist palace and now houses the Parliament of Romania. It is said to be the heaviest building in the world and the 2nd largest government building in the world after the Pentagon. It’s a grand and beautiful building but again, grey and bleak and dreary.