historical and artistic time

1. Starting from an old idea,
the building of the Palace of
Parliament was built under
Nicolae Ceauşescu during a period
with high economic
hardship. The dictator’s tendency
was, on the one hand, to focus all
the main bodies of the state in one building and, on the other hand, Ceauşescu
wanted a safe place to live under a seismic risk, that would hold up to even a nuclear
attack. From an architectural point of view, the Parliament Palace is one of the most
controversial buildings in Romania: Anca Petrescu identified it with the Buckingham
Palace in London and the Versailles Palace in France, and the architects of the time
with the „little Phenian”, with an eclectic style, loaded with contradictory elements..
The building, in Anca Petrescu’s vision, is divided into 3 main categories: the first
category – area of the main halls, galleries and cabinets; the second category – office
area; the third category - belvedere, with three rooms on each floor.
The building has a surface of 365.000 sqm and holds the 1st position in the
Guinness World Records for the largest administrative building (for civil use), and the
3rd place worldwide from the volume point of view of; it is the heaviest and most
expensive building in the world. The other dimensions of the building are: length –
270 m, width – 245 m, height – 84 m (over 0 level), depth 16 m (under ground level),
building footprint area – 73,615 sqm.
The building was built with construction materials produced in Romania,
amongst which: 1,000,000 cbm of marble, 550,000 tons of cement, 700,000 tons of
steel, 2,000,000 tons of sand, 1,000 tons of basalt, 900,000 cbm rich wood, 3,500 tons
of crystal, 200,000 cbm of glass, 2,800 chandeliers, 220,000 sqm carpets, 3,500 sqm
leather.The entire construction is the result of over 100,000 workers’ effort, more than
20,000 persons working 24 hour three shifts per day, during the peak periods.
Moreover, between years 1984 and 1990, 12,000 soldiers took part in the construction
works.
As a consequence of the urbanization campaign, shortly after the earthquake in
1977, and the friendship with Kim Ir Sen, the North Korean leader, Ceauşescu initiated
the plan to build a new political-administrative centre, in the area of the Uranus hill,
the higher part of the Dâmboviţa hill, area which was confirmed by specialists as being
safe for the construction of monumental buildings. The total area which was
demolished, starting with 1980, represented an equivalent of the fifth part of Bucharest
area (4.5 km in length and 2 km in width), the equivalent of few districts of Paris and
the total surface of Venice Although the initial project had 80,000 sqm, People’s
House had a surface 5 times bigger.

2. 20 churches were destroyed, 8
were moved, 10,000 homes were
demolished, and over 57,000 families
were evicted. The following
constructions were demolished: the
Văcăreşti Monastery, the sacred hill
bearing historic significance for
Bucharest, located in Mihai Vodă, Spitalul Brâncovenesc which was the first forensic
medicine institute in the world, Hala Unirii, the Operetta Building situated in Piaţa
Senatului, the Army Arsenal Building and the National Military Museum. Because the
Ceauşescu couple could not understand the architectural plans, all the foam models
were made on a scale of 1/1000 of the entire Bucharest city, including the streets,
plazas, buildings, houses and monuments, made in relief and with certain details. The
couple was walking over the models on a rolling bridge, giving instructions. The model
was often modified, after each visit of the couple (almost weekly).
When the Revolution from year 1989 started, the building was 60% finalized.
The construction works carried on later, between years 1992 and 1996, but at a much
slower rate. In 1993, the activity of the Chamber located in the Palace of the
Patriarchate was moved to the Palace of the Parliament (formerly known as Casa
Republicii), according to a Decision of the Chamber of Deputies. One year later, on
May 6th, 1994, the Bucharest International Conference Centre was established in the
same location, according to another decision issued by the Chamber of Deputies. In
2004, celebrating 140 years from the establishment of the First Chamber of Romanian
Senate and the set-up of the bicameral system in our country, the new Plenum Room
was officially opened. The building, once intended to be a construction that
worshipped socialism, communism and totalitarianism is now, after 27 years from the
Revolution in 1989, a symbol of democracy due to the public institutes located inside
(Chamber of Deputies, the Senate, the Legislative Council, the Constitutional Court of
Romania).
sources: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/romania/bucharest/attractions/palace-of-
parliament/a/poi-sig/419539/360383
https://www.uncover-romania.com/attractions/history-culture/landmarks/parliament-
palace-from-bucharest/
https://travelguideromania.com/palace-parliament/
https://www.inyourpocket.com/bucharest/casa-poporului_14744v
https://romaniatourstore.com/blog/the-palace-of-parliament-from-bucharest-a-troubled-
history/