Features

Bucharest

25 Mar 2009 by Sara Turner

Chic boutiques coexist with communist mementos in Romania’s capital, discovers Sara Turner.

1. The Village Museum

Bucharest has slowly stretched out as small communities gradually merged, so it can be a hard city to piece together – a mix of Soviet-era monoliths, grand Belle Epoque mansions, traditional churches and winding streets with trendy bars, boutiques and cafes.

A good place to start is the charming Village Museum, which gives an idea of what life was like in rural Romania in the early 20th century, with more than 300 buildings showcasing the diversity of folk architecture. Original houses were brought here from all over the country, and on a clear day it’s enchanting to wander among the old structures, which are set in a large park next to a lake. Go inside the houses and you’ll see the colourful textiles and earthenware crockery that people used.

One highlight is the 19th-century Draghiceni hut from Olt county, built below ground with thick thatched roofing – the design meant it was inconspicuous to passing bandits and kept its inhabitants warm during the cold winter months.

28 Kiseleff Road; open 9am-5pm (until 8pm May-Oct); entry 6 lei (£1.30).

2. Piata Revolutiei

A good walk or a short taxi ride down the main artery of Calea Victoriei will take you to Revolution Square, which, as the name suggests, was one of the key historic sites in the bloody Romanian revolution of 1989, when the communist government of Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown. On the east side of the square is the former Communist Party headquarters – from the large pillared balcony Ceausescu addressed an angry crowd, broadcast live on Romanian television, before retreating inside and escaping by helicopter. He and his wife Elena were later executed.

Today, a few bullet holes still mark the walls on surrounding buildings and a large memorial to those who died in the revolution takes centre stage – locals refer to as “the potato on a stick”, as that’s what it resembles.

Despite the best efforts of the communist regime, there are still many churches in the city centre that attract devoted congregations. Just off the square is a tiny example, Cretulescu Church, that is well worth a look. Colourful frescoes decorate the walls outside, while the interior is intimate and warm, painted in red and gold with haloed saints adorning the walls.

3. National Museum of Art of Romania

This collection is spread over three floors of the south wing of the old royal palace, built in the 1930s by the then King Carol II. The galleries offer a journey through Romanian art history, from gold-encrusted 16th century icons and altarpieces to 20th century impressionist landscapes and modernist sculpture by Constantin Brancusi.

Portraits from the 1800s, on the second floor, show personalities of the city dressed in all their finery – creamy-skinned latin women with jet-black hair peer out, surrounded by their pets and children.

49-53 Calea Victoriei; open 10am-6pm Wed-Sun (11am-7pm May-Sept); entry from 8 lei (£1.70).

4. Palace of Parliament

The most extravagant reminder of Ceausescu’s regime is the People’s Palace, the second-largest building in the world after the Pentagon in the US. Today it houses the Romanian government offices and visitors can take a tour of a tiny proportion of the 3,100 rooms and galleries. The enormous ballrooms can now be hired as conference spaces, and last year hosted the NATO summit.

With sweeping staircases, gold embroidered curtains and rich carpets, no expense was spared in the creation of the palace. Built between 1983 and 1989, the entire structure was made with Romanian materials, and 20,000 people worked round the clock to finish it. Many of them died during the construction, so the architect secretly added a memorial to the design – below the main balcony on the tour, where Ceausescu planned to address his people, you can see two stone crosses on the balustrades leading up the steps.

The main tourist entrance is on Splaiul Independentiei, and guided tours are held regularly between 10am and 4pm. You will need your passport. Visit cdep.ro/cic

5. The old town and Calea Victoriei

Take the short walk back over the river to explore Bucharest’s old town. The trendy streets north of the Civic Centre between Calea Victoriei and B-dul IC Bratianu offer plenty of diversion, with shisha bars, chic cafes, Belle Epoque architecture and shops selling everything from ball dresses to religious icons. There’s a huge amount of building work under way here, which come 2012 will see this area of the city restored to its former “little Paris” status, so watch out for pot holes.

A good way to finish your tour is to wander north up Calea Victoriei, home to designer boutiques and grand old buildings. If you’re in need of refreshment, stop by the new Radisson SAS hotel (bucharest.radissonsas.com), one of the largest hotels in Romania, for a cocktail or whisky in the ice-inspired, super-chic lounge bar. It’s here that the well-heeled Prada-clad locals like to gather, so it’s a great spot for a bit of people-watching.

Loading comments...

Search Flight

See a whole year of Reward Seat Availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls