Hitting Bucharest’s Highlights
Discover Orthodox churches and monstrous Soviet architecture in Roma
Dec 28, 2006
Guidebooks like to boast that Bucharest is the “next” city of Eastern Europe: that tourists will turn from Prague and Budapest and head to the heart of Romania. With the variety of architecture and culture, plus the Soviet background and the Ceausescu story to add interest, they might be right.
The Cultural Sights of Bucharest: Churches and Museums
Like nearly all Eastern European cities and towns, Bucharest has managed to hold on to part of its old town center – you’ll find its cobblestones mostly in the Lipscani area. There are also several architecturally and culturally significant churches that you’ll enjoy seeing, including the Patriarchal Cathedral (Catedrala Patriahala), the focus of the Romanian Orthodox religion, and the Old Court Church (Biserica Curtea Veche) which is Bucharest’s oldest church.
A number of Bucharest’s museums are also worth visiting. To understand more about Romania’s past, there are two very good museums to try: the Museum of the Romanian Peasant (Muzeul Taranului Roman) and the outdoor Village Museum (Muzuel Satului).
The Leftovers of the Soviet Era in Bucharest
While you might not say that the legacies of the communist era are beautiful, they are definitely interesting and a part of Bucharest’s history that you can’t ignore. The Palace of the Parliament is one of the largest buildings in the world and was built by Ceausescu during the 1980s and during socialist times it was called Casa Poporului (House of the People)! The Palace now houses both the Romanian parliament and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, so there are plenty of chances to take a look inside.
A little further south is the long street named B-dul Unirii, an area where vast numbers of houses and historic churches were destroyed by Ceausescu as part of his plan to build Bucharest’s “Champs Elysees” – even to the point that he planned it deliberately just a few feet longer than the Paris original. And the very tall Memorial of Rebirth pillar is the final mention of communism, as it commemorates the victims of 1989’s revolution.
With Romania experiencing economic growth and with even further prospects as it joins the European Union, Bucharest will be a bit of a building site for some time to come. In the suburbs, modern residential developments are still going up, and in the city center, many historical buildings are being restored.
