Unseen Romania

The Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest

"It has been a long way Romania covered during the last 4 years, since my first visit here in February 1990. You have even succeeded in taming this huge palace, the construction of a megalomaniac, but, at the some time, a masterpiece of the Romanian people." Catherine Lalumiere - General Secretary of the Council of Europe

A shortcut to the Palace’s history

The Palace of the Parliament is nowadays symbol of democracy and willingness to reach a high rank European status. The construction dating from 1983 changed its name into the Palace of the Parliament after the 1989 Revolution when the fall of the communist regime brought “something” new, understood as democracy, to the people of Romania. The idea belonging to “comrade” Ceausesc was initially called “The People’s House” and it had a kind of benefic impact for Romania at the international level, being immediately recognized as second largest building in the world, after the Pentagon. It all began as Ceausescu’s will to reconstruct Bucharest after the great earthquake in 1977 and to make Romania fallow Korea’s steps towards an everlasting Communist era. 

Rise up and current use

Built on the site known as Spirii Hill, the building anchors the west end of Unirii Boulevard and Centrul Civic. The cornerstone was laid on June 25, 1984 and the project was just nearing finalization at the time of Nicolae Ceauşescu's  overthrow and execution in 1989 The “monster” is 86 m high, 270 m by 240 m, and 92 m underground. It is 12 stories tall and it has 1.100 rooms (some being even bigger than s football field), with 4 additional underground levels currently in use, and another 4 in different stages of completion. In 1989 the costs were presumed at around 1.75 billion American dollars, and in 2006 at about 3 billion Euros.

Starting with 1997, the building was occupied by Romania's Chamber of Deputies, which had moved from the Palace of the Patriarchy; in 2005 the Senate also joined the Chamber of Deputies, leaving behind its headquarters, the former Communist Party Central Committee building.

“Up-dating” the Palace of the Parliament 

In 2004 some changes have been made to the Palace of the Parliament. Inside the west wing of the mega-construction were opened two important museums: the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC) and the Museum and Park of Totalitarianism and Socialist Realism. In consequence during 2003-2004 a glass annex was build alongside external elevators. The Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI), an organization for regional cooperation against cross-border crime, has its headquarters in the Palace of the Parliament as well.

Parts of the building - some of the west wing, some of the east wing, parts of the second floor, basement and everything below- are still to be completed. Currently, a new underground parking is being built inside a former stadium which was covered during the construction. Tunnels linking 13 September Boulevard with the basement of the building will be also built in the near future.

Confirmed myths and legends about the Palace of the Parliament 

Although its greatness is often contested, the Guinness book acknowledged the building of the present day Parliament as being in 2nd place among Administrative ones in the world, having a surface of 330.000 m². From the volume’s point of view, with its 2.550.000 m³, it is in 3rd position after the space shovels putting together building in Florida, and the Quetzalcoatl pyramid in Mexico. In order to have a more vivid image of comparison I should mention that this pyramid crosses with 2% the volume of Keops’s pyramid in Egypt.

Although admired and regarded as a mega-construction, people are often reluctant to the Palace of the Parliament and remember it as a proof of totalitarian tyranny and a sacrifice for the Romanian people in terms of investment and resources. It is sometimes regarded as Ceausescu’s intent to glorify its dictatorship, it’s considered a sign of communist value and vanity, even its position being controversial as it is visible from every site of the capital. But on the other hand you do not have “smoke without fire”. So I warmly recommend you to visit it while in holiday to the Bucharest European Capital .

Author: Florentina GROSU

 

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