Bucharest ( ) is the
capital city, industrial and financial
centre of Romania
. It
is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the
country, at , and lies on the banks of the
Dâmboviţa River.
Bucharest was first mentioned in documents as early as 1459. Since
then it has gone through a variety of changes, becoming the state
capital of Romania in 1862 and steadily consolidating its position
as the centre of the Romanian mass media, culture and arts. Its
eclectic architecture is a mix of historical (
neo-classical),
interbellum (
Bauhaus and
Art Deco), Communist-era and modern. In the
period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture
and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname
of the "Little Paris of the East" (
Micul Paris). Although
many buildings and districts in the historic centre were damaged or
destroyed by war, earthquakes and
Nicolae Ceaușescu's program of
systematization, many
survived. In recent years, the city has been experiencing an
economic and cultural boom.
According to January 1, 2009 official estimates, Bucharest proper
has a population of 1,944,367. The
urban area extends
beyond the limits of Bucharest proper and has a population of 2
million people. Adding the satellite towns around the urban area,
the
metropolitan area of
Bucharest has a population of 2.15 million people. Bucharest is the
6th largest city in the
European
Union by population within city limits.
Economically, the city is the most prosperous in Romania and is one
of the main industrial centres and transportation hubs of
Eastern Europe. As one of the wealthiest
cities in Romania, Bucharest also has a broad range of convention
facilities, educational facilities, cultural venues, shopping
arcades and recreational areas.
The city proper is administratively known as the Municipality of
Bucharest (
Municipiul București), and has the same
administrative level as a
county, being further subdivided into
six
sectors.
Etymology
The name of
Bucur has an uncertain origin:
tradition connects the founding of Bucharest with the name of Bucur
who was either a prince, an outlaw, a fisherman, a shepherd, or a
hunter, according to different legends.In
Albanian, a language which may have
historical connections with the Thracian languages, 'bukur'
signifies 'beautiful'; in Romanian the word stem
bucur
means 'glad', 'joy'.
The official city name in full is
The Municipality of
Bucharest ( ).
A native or resident of Bucharest is called
Bucharester (
).
History
Bucharest's history alternated periods of development and decline
from the early settlements of the
Antiquity and until its consolidation as
capital of Romania late in the 19th century.
First mentioned as "the
Citadel of
București" in 1459, it became a residence of the
Wallachian prince Vlad III the Impaler.
The Old Princely Court
(Curtea
Veche
) was built by Mircea Ciobanul, and during following rules,
Bucharest was established as the summer residence of the court,
competing with Târgovişte
for the status of capital after an increase in the
importance of southern Muntenia brought
about by the demands of the suzerain
power, the Ottoman
Empire.
Burned down by the Ottomans and briefly discarded by princes at the
start of the 17th century, Bucharest was restored and continued to
grow in size and prosperity.
Its centre was around the street "Uliţa
Mare", which starting 1589 was known as Lipscani
.
Before the 1700s, it became the most important trade centre of
Wallachia and became a permanent location for the Wallachian court
after 1698 (starting with the reign of
Constantin Brâncoveanu).
Bucharest in 1837
Partly
destroyed by natural disasters and rebuilt several times during the
following 200 years, hit by Caragea's plague in 1813–1814, the
city was wrested from Ottoman control and occupied at several
intervals by the Habsburg Monarchy
(1716, 1737, 1789) and Imperial Russia
(three times between 1768 and 1806).
It was
placed under Russian
administration between 1828 and the Crimean War, with an interlude during the
Bucharest-centred 1848
Wallachian revolution, and an Austrian
garrison
took possession after the Russian departure (remaining in the city
until March 1857). Additionally, on March 23, 1847, a fire
consumed about 2,000 buildings of Bucharest, destroying a third of
the city. The social divide between rich and poor was described at
the time by
Ferdinand Lassalle as
making the city "a savage hotchpotch".
Map of Bucharest at the onset of
WWI.
In 1861, when
Wallachia and
Moldavia were united to form the
Principality of Romania, Bucharest
became the new nation's capital; in 1881, it became the political
centre of the newly-proclaimed
Kingdom of Romania. During the second
half of the 19th century, due to its new status, the city's
population increased dramatically, and a new period of urban
development began.
The extravagant architecture and cosmopolitan
high culture of this period won Bucharest the nickname of "The
Paris of the East" (or "Little Paris", Micul Paris), with
Calea
Victoriei
as its
Champs-Élysées
or Fifth
Avenue
.
Between
December 6, 1916 and November 1918, it was occupied by German
forces, the legitimate capital being moved to
Iași
.
After
World War I, Bucharest became the
capital of
Greater Romania. In
January 1941 it was the place of
Legionnaires'
rebellion and Bucharest pogrom. As the capital of an
Axis country, Bucharest suffered heavy losses
during
World War II, due to
Allied bombings, and,
on August 23, 1944, saw
the royal coup
which brought Romania into the anti-
German camp, suffering a short but destructive
period of
Luftwaffe
bombings in reprisal.
During
Nicolae Ceaușescu's
leadership (1965–1989), most of the historic part of the city was
destroyed and replaced with Communist-style buildings, particularly
high-rise apartment buildings.
The best example of this is the development
called Centrul
Civic
(the Civic Centre), including the Palace of the
Parliament
, where an entire historic quarter was razed to make
way for Ceaușescu's megalomaniac constructions. In 1977, a strong
7.4 on the
Richter-scale earthquake
claimed 1,500 lives and destroyed many old
buildings. Nevertheless, some historic neighbourhoods did
survive to this day.
The
Romanian Revolution of
1989 began with mass anti-Ceaușescu protests in Timișoara
in December 1989 and continued in Bucharest,
leading to the overthrow of the Communist regime. Dissatisfied with
the post-revolutionary leadership of the
National Salvation Front, student
leagues and opposition groups organized large-scale protests
continued in 1990 (the
Golaniad), which
were violently stopped by the miners of
Valea Jiului (the
Mineriad). Several other Mineriads followed, the
results of which included a government change.
After the year 2000, due to the advent of Romania's
economic boom, the city has modernised and is
currently undergoing a period of urban renewal. Various residential
and commercial developments are underway, particularly in the
northern districts, while Bucharest's historic centre is currently
undergoing restoration.
Treaties signed in Bucharest
- Treaty of May 28, 1812, at the end of the Russo-Turkish War
- Treaty of March 3, 1886, at the end of the Serbo-Bulgarian War
- Treaty of August 10, 1913, at the end of the Second Balkan War
- Treaty of August 4, 1916, the treaty of alliance between
Romania and the Entente
- Treaty of May 6, 1918, the treaty between Romania and the
Central Powers
Geography
General Information
Bucharest is situated on the banks of the
Dâmboviţa River, which flows into
the
Argeș River, a tributary of the
Danube.
Several lakes the most important
of which are Lake Herăstrău, Lake Floreasca, Lake Tei, and Lake
Colentina stretch across the city, along the
Colentina River, a tributary of the
Dâmboviţa. In addition, in the centre of the capital there is a
small artificial lake Lake Cișmigiu surrounded by the
Cișmigiu Gardens. The Cișmigiu Gardens
have a rich history, being frequented by famous poets and writers.
Opened in 1847 and based on the plans of German architect
Carl F.W. Meyer, the gardens are currently the main
recreational facility in the city centre.
Besides
Cișmigiu, Bucharest contains several other large parks and gardens,
including Herăstrău Park
and the Botanical Garden
. Herăstrău is a large public park located in
the north of the city, around Lake Herăstrău, and the site of the
Village
Museum
, while the Bucharest's botanical garden is the
largest in Romania and contains over 10,000 species of plants, many
of them exotic; it was once a pleasure park for the royal
family.
Bucharest is situated in the south eastern corner of the
Romanian Plain, in an area once covered by
the
Vlăsiei forest, which, after
it was cleared, gave way to a fertile flatland.
As with many cities, Bucharest is traditionally considered to have
seven hills, in the tradition of the seven hills of Rome
.
Bucharest's seven hills are: Mihai Vodă, Dealul Mitropoliei, Radu Vodă, Cotroceni
, Spirei, Văcărești and Sf. Gheorghe Nou.
The city has a total area of .
The altitude varies from at the Dâmboviţa
bridge in Căţelu
, south-eastern Bucharest and at the Militari
church. The city has a relatively round shape, with
the centre situated approximately in the cross-way of the main
north-south/east-west axes at the University
Square
. The milestone for Romanian's
Kilometre Zero is placed just south of
University Square in front of the New St. George Church (Sfântul
Gheorghe Nou) at St. George Square (Piaţa Sfântul Gheorghe).
Bucharest's radius, from University Square to the city limits in
all directions, varies from about 10 to 12 km
(6.25–7.5 mi).
Until recently, the regions surrounding Bucharest were largely
rural, but after 1989, new suburbs started to be built around
Bucharest, in the surrounding
Ilfov county.
Further urban consolidation is expected to take place when the
Bucharest metropolitan area is formed in 2006, which will
incorporate various communes and cities of Ilfov and surrounding
counties.
Climate
Bucharest has a temperate
continental
climate. Due to its position on the
Romanian Plain, the city's winters can get
windy, even though some of the winds are mitigated due to
urbanisation. Winter temperatures are often
below , even though they rarely drop below . In summer, the average
temperature is approximately (the average for July and August),
despite the fact that temperatures many times reach to in
mid-summer in the city centre. Although average
precipitation and
humidity during summer is low, there are infrequent
yet heavy and often violent storms. During spring and autumn,
temperatures vary between to , and precipitation during this time
tends to be higher than in summer, with more frequent yet milder
periods of rain.
Law and government
Administration
Bucharest has a unique status in Romanian administration, since it
is the only municipality that is not part of a
county. Its population, however, is
larger than that of any Romanian county, and hence the power of the
Bucharest General City Hall (
Primăria Generală), which is
the city's local government body, is about the same as, if not
greater than, that of Romanian county councils.
The city government is headed by a
General Mayor (Primar General), currently
(as of 2009)
Sorin Oprescu. Decisions
are approved and discussed by the
General Council (Consiliu
General) made up of 55 elected councillors. Furthermore, the city
is divided into six administrative
sectors (sectoare), each of which has
their own 27-seat sectorial council, town hall and mayor. The
powers of local government over a certain area are therefore shared
by the Bucharest City Hall and the local sectorial councils with
little or no overlapping of authority. The general rule is that the
main City Hall is responsible for citywide utilities such as the
water system, the transport system and the main boulevards, while
sectorial town halls manage the contact between individuals and the
local government, secondary streets, parks, schools and cleaning
services.
The six sectors are numbered from one to six and are disposed
radially so that each one has under its administration an area of
the city centre. They are numbered clockwise and are further
divided into districts without any form of administration
(
cartiere):
- Sector 1
(population 227,717): Dorobanţi, Băneasa
, Aviaţiei
, Pipera
, Aviatorilor, Primăverii, Romană, Victoriei,
Herăstrău
Park, Bucureștii Noi,
Dămăroaia, Strǎuleşti, Griviţa, 1 Mai, Băneasa Forest, Pajura, Domenii and a small
part of Giuleşti
which includes Giuleşti Stadium
- Sector 2
(population 357,338): Pantelimon
, Colentina
, Iancului, Tei, Floreasca, Moşilor, Obor
, Vatra Luminoasă, Fundeni, Plumbuita, Ştefan cel Mare, Baicului
- Sector 3
(population 399,231): Vitan, Dudeşti
, Titan
, Centrul
Civic, Dristor
, Lipscani, Muncii, Unirii
- Sector 4
(population 300,331): Berceni
, Olteniţei, Giurgiului
, Progresul, Văcăreşti
, Timpuri Noi,
Tineretului
- Sector 5
(population 288,690): Rahova, Ferentari, Giurgiului, Cotroceni, 13 Septembrie,
Dealul Spirii
- Sector 6
(population 371,060): Giuleşti, Crângaşi
, Drumul
Taberei
, Militari, Grozǎveşti
(also known as Regie), Ghencea
Like all other local councils in Romania, the Bucharest sectorial
councils, the city's
General Council and the mayors
are elected every four years by the population. Additionally,
Bucharest has a prefect, who is appointed by Romania's central
government. The prefect is not allowed to be a member of a
political party. The prefect's role is to represent the national
government at local level, acting as a liaison and facilitating the
implementation of National Development Plans and governing
programmes at local level. The current prefect of Bucharest (as of
2009) is
Mihai Cristian
Atanasoaiei.
The
Municipality of Bucharest, along with the surrounding Ilfov county, forms the Bucharest
development region
, which is equivalent to NUTS-II regions in the European Union and is used by the European
Union and the Romanian Government for statistical analysis and
regional development. The Bucharest development region is
not, however, an administrative entity.
Justice system
Bucharest's judicial system is similar to that of the Romanian
counties. Each of the six sectors has their own local first
instance court (
judecătorie), while appeals from these
courts' verdicts, and more serious cases, are directed to the
Bucharest Tribunal, the city's municipal court. The Bucharest Court
of Appeal judges appeals against decisions taken by tribunals in
Bucharest and in five surrounding counties (Teleorman, Ialomiţa,
Giurgiu, Călăraşi and Ilfov). Bucharest is also home to Romania's
supreme court, the
High Court of Cassation and
Justice, as well as to the Constitutional Court of
Romania.
Bucharest has its own municipal police force, the Bucharest Police
(
Poliţia Bucureşti), which is responsible for policing of
crime within the whole city, and operates a number of special
divisions. The Bucharest Police are headquartered on Ştefan cel
Mare Blvd in the city centre, and has a number of precincts
throughout the city. From 2004 onwards, each sector City Hall also
has under its administration a Community Police force (
Poliţia Comunitară),
dealing with local community issues. Bucharest also houses the
General Inspectorates of the
Gendarmerie and the
National Police.
Crime
Bucharest's crime rate is rather low in comparison to other
Eastern European capital cities,
with the number of total offences declining by 51% between 2000 and
2004. In particular, levels of
violent
crime remain very low, with 24 murders and 1069 other violent
offences taking place in 2004. Although there have been a number of
recent police crackdowns on
organised
crime gangs, such as the Cămătaru clan, organised crime
generally has little impact on public life. Petty crime, however,
is more common, particularly in the form of
pickpocketing, which occurs mainly on the
city's public transport network. Additionally,
confidence tricks are sometimes common,
especially in regards to tourists, even though the frequency of
these tricks has declined in recent years. Levels of crime are
higher in the southern districts of the city, particularly in
Ferentari, a socially-disadvantaged
area.
Although the presence of
street
children was a problem in Bucharest in the 1990s, their numbers
have declined significantly in recent years, currently lying at or
below the average of major European capital cities. The same is
true for
beggars and
homeless people, many of them from the
Roma minority. However, there are still an
estimated 1,000 street children in the city, many of whom engage in
petty crime and begging. There has been speculation that the street
children are recruited by professional underground networks for
criminal purposes. From 2000 onwards, Bucharest has seen an
increase in illegal road races which occur mainly at night in the
city's outskirts or on industrial sites.
A significant problem in the city remains
institutional corruption, which is seen
as the most important justice-and-law related problem in the
city.
Demographics
Historical population of Bucharest
| Year |
Population |
| 1789 |
30,030 |
| 1831 |
60,587 |
| 1859 |
122,000 |
| 1900 |
282,000 |
| 1918 |
383,000 |
| December 29, 1930 census |
633,355 |
| January 25, 1948 census |
1,025,180 |
| February 21, 1956 census |
1,177,661 |
| March 15, 1966 census |
1,366,684 |
| January 5, 1977 census |
1,807,239 |
| July 1, 1990 estimate |
2,127,194 |
| January 7, 1992 census |
2,067,545 |
| March 18, 2002 census |
1,926,334 |
| July 1, 2005 estimate |
1,924,959 |
| July 1, 2007 estimate |
1,931,838 |
| January 1, 2009 estimate |
1,944,367 |
The city's population, according to the 2002 census, is 1,926,334
inhabitants, or 8.9% of the total population of Romania.
Additionally, there are about 50,000 people who commute to the city
every day, mainly from the surrounding
Ilfov county.
Bucharest's population experienced two phases of rapid growth, the
first in the late 19th century, when the city grew in importance
and size, and the second during the
Communist period, when a massive
urbanisation campaign was launched and many
people migrated from rural areas to the capital. At this time, due
to Ceauşescu's ban on abortion and contraception,
natural increase was also
significant.
Approximately 97% of the population of Bucharest are ethnic
Romanians, with the second largest ethnic
group being the
Roma, which make up
1.4% of the population. Other significant ethnic groups are
Hungarians (0.3%),
Jews (0.1%),
Turks (0,1%)
and
Germans (0,1%).
Some other
inhabitants of Bucharest are of Greek, Armenian, Lipovan and Italian
descent. The Greeks and the Armenians used
to play significant roles in the life of the city at the end of the
19th century and beginning of the 20th century.
One of the
predominantly Greek neighbourhoods was Vitan -
where a Jewish population also lived; the latter
was more present in Văcăreşti and areas around Unirii Square
.
In terms of religion, 96.1% of the population are
Romanian Orthodox, 1.2% are
Roman Catholic, 0.5%
are
Muslim and 0.4% are
Eastern Rite-Catholic.
Despite this, only 24% of the population, of any religion, attend a
place of worship once a week or more. The life expectancy of
residents of Bucharest in 2003–2005 was 74.14 years, around 2 years
higher than the Romanian average. Female life expectancy was 77.41
years, in comparison to 70.57 years for males.
Economy
Bucharest
is the centre of the Romanian economy and industry,
accounting for around 14.6% of the country's GDP and about one-quarter of its
industrial production, while being inhabited by only 9% of the
country's population. Almost one third of national taxes is
paid by Bucharest's citizens and companies.
In 2006, at
purchasing power parity, Bucharest had a per-capita GDP of €19,800,
or 83.8% that of the European Union
average and more than twice the Romanian average. The city's strong economic growth
has revitalised infrastructure and led to the development of many
shopping malls and modern residential towers and high-rise office
buildings. In September 2005, Bucharest had an unemployment rate of
2.6%, significantly lower than the national unemployment rate of
5.7%.
Bucharest's economy is mainly centred on
industry and
services, with services particularly growing
in importance in the last ten years. The headquarters of 186,000
firms, including nearly all large Romanian companies are located in
Bucharst. An important source for growth since 2000 has been the
city's property and construction boom. Bucharest is also Romania's
largest centre for
information
technology and communications and is home to several software
companies operating offshore delivery centres.
Romania's largest
stock exchange, the Bucharest Stock Exchange
, which was merged in December 2005 with the
Bucharest-based electronic stock exchange Rasdaq plays a major role in the city's
economy.
There are a number of major international
supermarket chains such as
Carrefour,
Cora
and
METRO. At the moment, the city is
undergoing a retail boom, with a large number of supermarkets, and
hypermarkets, constructed every year. For more information, see
supermarkets in Romania.
A few of
the largest and most modern shopping centres in Bucharest are
Bucharest
Mall
, Plaza
Romania
, City Mall, Jolie
Ville Galleria, Liberty Center
and Unirea
Shopping Center
. There are also a large number of traditional
retail arcades and markets; the one at Obor covers about
a dozen city blocks and numerous large stores that are not
officially part of the market effectively add up to a market
district almost twice that size.
Bucharest is most importantly feeling the benefits of the new
wealth due to the economic boom that it has seen for the recent
years.
Transport
Public Transport
Bucharest's extensive public transport system is the largest in
Romania and one of the largest in Europe. It is made up of the
Bucharest Metro, as well as a
surface transport system run by
RATB (Regia
Autonomă de Transport Bucureşti), which consists of buses,
trams,
trolleybuses, and
light rail. In addition, there is a
private
minibus system.
The metro and the surface transport system used to be run by two
separate state-owned corporations but have been merged in early
2007 to form the Bucharest Metropolitan Transport Authority. As of
2007, there is a limit of 10,000 taxicab licences, down from 25,000
in the 1990s, and the even higher demand is supplied by taxis
registered in Ilfov county.
Air
The city
is served by two airports: Henri
Coandă International Airport
(formerly Otopeni) and Aurel Vlaicu
International Airport
(formerly Băneasa). Henri Coandă is the
largest airport in Romania with 5
million passengers in 2007 and the main hub for the national
operator TAROM. Delta Air Lines serves Bucharest directly
from JFK. It is also connected to several international airports by
a wide range of international airlines.
The smaller Aurel Vlaicu
International Airport is used for charter flights and low-cost carriers.
Railways
Bucharest is the hub of Romania's national railway network, run by
Căile Ferate Române.
The main
railway station is Gara de
Nord
, or North Station, which provides connections to
all major cities in Romania as well as international destinations
such as Belgrade
, Budapest
, Sofia
, Vienna
, Prague
, Moscow
, Istanbul
, Chişinău
, and many other European cities. The city
also has five other railway stations run by CFR, most important are
Basarab (in proximity of North Station), Obor, Baneasa, Progresu,
which are in the process of being integrated in a commuter railway
serving Bucharest and the surrounding
Ilfov
county. From Bucharest depart 7 main line.
Infrastructure
The city's municipal road network is centred around a series of
high-capacity boulevards, which generally radiate out from the city
centre to the outskirts. The main axes, which run north-south,
east-west and northwest-southeast, as well as one internal and one
external ring road, support the bulk of the traffic. The city's
roads are usually very crowded during rush hours, due to an
increase in car ownership in recent years. Every day, there are
more than one million vehicles travelling within the city. This
results in occasional wear and
potholes
appearing on busy roads, particularly secondary roads, this being
identified as one of Bucharest's main infrastructural problems. In
recent years, there has been a comprehensive effort on behalf of
the City Hall to boost road infrastructure and according to the
general development plan, 2000 roads have repaired before
2008.
Roads
Bucharest is also a major intersection of
Romania's national road network.
A few of
the busiest national roads and motorways, link the city to all of
Romania's major cities as well as to neighbouring countries such as
Hungary
, Bulgaria
and Ukraine
. The A1
to Pitesti and the A2
, in Romanian "Autostrada Soarelui" to the Dobrogea
region and Constanta both start from Bucharest. The planned A3 and A4
motorways will radiate from Voluntari
, a town in the city's northern
outskirts.
Water
Although
it is situated on the banks of a river, Bucharest has never
functioned as a port city, with other Romanian cities such as
Constanţa
and Galati
acting as
the country's main ports. However, the Danube-Bucharest Canal
, which is long, is currently in construction
and is around 60% completed. When finished, the canal will link
Bucharest to the Danube River and, via
the Danube-Black
Sea Canal
, to the Black
Sea
. This corridor is expected to be a
significant component of the city's transport infrastructure and
increase sea traffic by a large margin.
Culture
Bucharest has a diverse and growing cultural scene, with cultural
life exhibited in a number of various fields, including the
visual arts,
performing arts and
nightlife.
Unlike other parts of
Romania, such as the Black
Sea coast or Transylvania,
Bucharest's cultural scene is much more eclectic, without a defined
style, and instead incorporates various elements of Romanian and
international culture. Bucharest has an eclectic mixture of
elements from traditionally Romanian buildings to buildings that
are influenced by French architects. It is because of this French
influence that Bucharest was once called "the Paris of the East" or
"Little Paris."
Landmarks
Cercul Militar Naţional, 2006
Bucharest has a large number of landmark buildings and monuments.
Perhaps
the most prominent of these is the Palace of
the Parliament, built in the 1980s during the reign of Communist
dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu. Currently the largest building in Europe
and the second-largest in the world, the Palace houses the Romanian
Parliament (the Chamber
of Deputies and the Senate),
as well as the National Museum of Contemporary
Art
. The building also boasts one of the largest
convention centres in the world.
Another
well-known landmark in Bucharest is Arcul de Triumf (The Triumphal Arch), it was
built in its current form in 1935 and modeled after the Arc de
Triomphe
in
Paris
. A newer landmark of the city is the Memorial of
Rebirth
, a stylized marble pillar unveiled in 2005 to
commemorate the victims of the Romanian Revolution of 1989,
which overthrew Communism. The abstract monument sparked a
great deal of controversy when it was unveiled, being dubbed with
names such as "the olive in the toothpick", (
"măslina-n
scobitoare"), as many argued that it does not fit in its
surroundings and believed that its choice was based on political
reasons.
The
Romanian
Athenaeum
building is considered to be a symbol of Romanian
culture and since 2007 is on the list of the Label of European
Heritage sights.
Other
cultural venues include the National
Museum of Art of Romania
, Museum of Natural History "Grigore Antipa",
Museum of
the Romanian Peasant
(Muzeul Ţăranului Român), National
History Museum
, and the Military
Museum
.
Visual arts
In terms of
visual arts, the city
contains a number of museums featuring both classical and
contemporary Romanian art, as well as selected international works.
The
National
Museum of Art of Romania is perhaps the best-known of Bucharest
museums. It is located in the former royal palace and
features extensive collections of medieval and modern Romanian art,
including works by renowned sculptor
Constantin Brâncuşi, as well
as a prominent international collection assembled by the former
Romanian royal family.
Other, smaller museums, contain more specialised collections of
works.
The Zambaccian Museum
, which is situated in the former home of
Armenian-Romanian art collector Krikor H. Zambaccian
contains works by many well-known Romanian artists as well as
international artists such as
Paul
Cézanne,
Eugène Delacroix,
Henri Matisse,
Camille Pissarro and
Pablo Picasso.
The
Gheorghe Tattarescu Museum
contains portraits of Romanian revolutionaries in exile such as
Gheorghe Magheru,
Ştefan Golescu,
Nicolae Bălcescu and allegorical
compositions with revolutionary (
Romania's rebirth, 1849)
and patriotic (
The Principalities'
Unification, 1857) themes.The
Theodor Pallady Museum is situated in
one of the oldest surviving merchant houses in Bucharest and
includes many works by Romanian painter
Theodor Pallady as well as a number of
European and Oriental furniture pieces.The
Museum of Art Collections contains
the collections of a number of well-known Romanian art aficionados,
including Krikor Zambaccian and Theodor Pallady.
Despite the extensive classical art galleries and museums in the
city, there is also a contemporary arts scene that has become
increasingly prominent in recent times.
The National Museum of Contemporary
Art (MNAC), situated in a wing of the Palace of
the Parliament, was opened in 2004 and contains a widespread
collection of Romanian and international contemporary art, in a
number of expressive forms. The MNAC also manages the
Kalinderu MediaLab, which caters specifically to multimedia and
experimental art. There is also a range of smaller, private art
galleries throughout the city centre.
The
palace of the National Bank of Romania
houses the national numismatic collection. Exhibits include
banknotes,
coins,
documents, photographs, maps, silver and gold
bullion bars, bullion coins,
dies and
moulds. The building itself was
constructed between 1884 and 1890. The marble decorations in the
thesaurus room are interesting.
Performing arts
The old building of the National
Theatre: opened to the public in 1852, it was destroyed by a German
air raid on August 24, 1944.
Performing arts are one of the
strongest cultural elements of Bucharest, and the city has a number
of world-renowned facilities and institutions.
The most prominent is
the neoclassical Romanian Athenaeum, which was founded in 1852, hosts classical music
concerts, the George Enescu Festival,
and is home to the "George Enescu"
Philharmonic. Bucharest is also home to the Romanian
National Opera
, as well as the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre.
Another
well-known theatre in Bucharest is the State Jewish
Theatre
, which has gained increasing prominence in recent
years due partly to the fact that it features plays starring
world-renowned Romanian-Jewish actress Maia Morgenstern. There is also a
large number of smaller theatres throughout the city that cater to
specific genres, such as the Comedy Theatre, the Nottara Theatre,
the Bulandra Theatre, the Odeon Theatre, and the
Constantin Tănase Revue
Theatre.
Music and nightlife
Bucharest skyline at night
Bucharest is home to Romania's largest recording labels, and is
often the residence of Romanian musicians. The city's music scene
is
eclectic. Many Romanian rock
bands of the 1970s and 1980s, such as
Iris and
Holograf, continue to be popular, particularly with
the middle-aged, while since the beginning of the 1990s the
hip hop/
rap
scene has developed a unique sound and style indigenous to eastern
Bucharest. Hip-hop bands and artists from Bucharest such as
B.U.G. Mafia,
Paraziţii,
Verdikt,
La
familia,
Bitză and
Zale enjoy national and international
recognition.
The eclectic pop-rock band
Taxi have
been gaining international respect, as has
Spitalul de Urgenţă's raucous
updating of traditional Romanian music. While many neighbourhood
discos play
manele, an Oriental- and Roma-influenced genre of
music that is particularly popular in Bucharest's working class
districts, the city has a rich
jazz and
blues scene, and, to an even larger extent,
house music/
trance and
heavy
metal/
punk scenes. Bucharest's jazz
profile has especially risen since 2002, with the presence of two
thriving venues,
Green Hours and
Art Jazz, as well as an American presence
alongside established Romanians. The city's nightlife, particularly
its
club scene grew significantly in the
1990s, and continues to develop.
There is no central nightlife strip, with many entertainment venues
dispersed throughout the city centre, with a cluster in the
historical centre.
Among the most visited venues are Lăptăria
Enache
and La Motoare, located
on the rooftop of the National Theatre, as well as El Grande Comandante and Club A. Most clubs and bars are located around the
centre of the city, from the Piaţa Unirii
to Piaţa Romană
. Also, a large concentration of rock clubs
can be found in the Lipscani area, the old part of the city, in the vicinity of
Piaţa Unirii. The
Regie area, located
near Polytechnic University campus, hosts a number of clubs and
bars, mainly targeted toward the student population.
The city also hosts some of the best electronic music clubs in
Europe such as
Studio Martin and
Kristal Glam Club. During the
summer,
Zoom Beach Club is an
outdoor club on the shore of a lake and has two separate dance
floors.
The Office is one of the
most exclusive clubs in Bucharest and has a long tradition in
clubbing. One of the best cocktail clubs in Bucharest is
Deja Vu situated on Bălcescu Boulevard near
the Italian church. Some other notable venues are:
Gaia,
Fratelli,
Glamour,
Tipsy,
Cotton Club,
Pat, and
Bamboo.
Traditional culture
Right
Bucharest's cultural life has, especially since the early 1990s,
become colourful and worldly. Traditional Romanian culture,
however, continues to have a major influence in arts such as
theatre, film and music.
Additionally, Bucharest has two
internationally-renowned ethnographic
museums, the Museum of the Romanian
Peasant and the open-air Village Museum. The Village Museum, in Herăstrău
Park, contains 272 authentic buildings and peasant farms
from all over Romania. The Museum of the Romanian Peasant
was declared the European Museum of the Year in 1996, and displays
a rich collection of textiles (especially costumes), icons,
ceramics, and other artifacts of Romanian peasant life.
The
Museum of
Romanian History
is another important museum in Bucharest,
containing a collection of artefacts detailing Romanian history and
culture from the prehistoric times, Dacian
era, medieval times and the modern era.
Cultural events and festivals
There are a number of cultural festivals in Bucharest throughout
the year, in various domains, even though most festivals take place
in the summer months of June, July and August. The National Opera
organises the International Opera Festival every year in May and
June, which includes ensembles and orchestras from all over the
world. The Romanian Athaeneum Society hosts the
George Enescu Festival at various
locations throughout the city in September every year.
Additionally, the Museum of the Romanian Peasant and the Village
Museum organise a number of events throughout the year showcasing
Romanian folk arts and crafts.
In the 2000s, due to the growing prominence of the Chinese
community in Bucharest, several Chinese cultural events have taken
place. The first officially-organised Chinese festival was the
Chinese New Year's Eve Festival of
February 2005 which took place in Nichita Stănescu Park and was
organised by the Bucharest City Hall.In 2005, Bucharest was the
first city in
Southeastern
Europe to host the international
CowParade, which resulted in dozens of decorated
cow sculptures being placed at various points across the
city.
Since 2005 Bucharest has its own contemporary art
biennale, the
Bucharest Biennale. The next edition will
be in 2010.
The 2000s also saw an increasing visibility of Bucharest
gay culture, with the opening of the Queen's
Club, the first
LGBT club in the city, in 2001,
and the launch of the annual
Bucharest
GayFest in 2004. The city's first
gay pride parade was held as part of the
2005 GayFest.
Religious life
Bucharest is the seat of the Patriarch of the
Romanian Orthodox Church, one of
the
Eastern Orthodox churches in
communion with the
Patriarch
of Constantinople, and also of its subdivisons, the
Metropolis of Muntenia and
Dobrudja and the
Archbishopric of Bucharest.
Orthodox believers believe that
Saint
Demetrios is the saint patron of the city.
Bucharest is also a center for various other religions and cults in
Romania, including the main Romanian-ethnic Catholic organization,
Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Bucharest.
Architecture
The Alba Iulia circle at one end of
Unirii Bd. shows some of the higher end communist highrises.
Bucharest's architecture is highly
eclectic due to the many influences on the city
throughout its history. The city centre is a mixture of medieval,
neoclassical and
art nouveau buildings,
as well as 'neo-Romanian' buildings dating from the beginning of
the 20th century and a remarkable collection of modern buildings
from the 20s and 30s. The mostly-utilitarian Communist-era
architecture dominates most southern boroughs. Recently built
contemporary structures such as skyscrapers and office buildings
complete the landscape.
Historical architecture
Of the city's
medieval architecture,
most of what survived into modern times was destroyed by Communist
systematization, numerous
fires and military incursions.
Still, some medieval and renaissance
edifices remain, the most notable are in the Lipscani area. This precinct contains notable buildings
such as Manuc's
Inn
and the ruins of the Curtea Veche (the Old Court), during the late Middle Ages this area was the heart of commerce
in Bucharest. From the 1970s onwards, the area went through
urban decline, and many historical buildings fell into disrepair.
In 2005, the Lipscani area was entirely pedestrianised and is
currently slowly undergoing restoration.
The city centre has also retained architecture from the late 19th
century and early 20th century, particularly the
interwar period, which is often seen as the
"golden age" of Bucharest architecture.
During this time, the
city grew significantly in size and wealth therefore seaking to
emulate other large European capitals such as Paris, this boom
being. Much of the architecture of the time belongs to a
remarkably strong Modern (rationalist) Architecture current, led by
Horia Creanga and
Marcel Iancu, which
managed to literally change the face of the city.
Two notable buildings
from this time are the Creţulescu Palace
, currently housing cultural institutions
including UNESCO
's
European Centre for Higher Education, and the Cotroceni
Palace
, the current residence of the Romanian President. Many large-scale
constructions such as Gara de Nord, the busiest railway station in the city, National
Bank of Romania's headquarters and the Telephone Palace date from
these times. In the 2000s, a wide variety of historic
buildings in the city centre underwent restoration. In some
residential areas of the city, particularly the high-income
northern suburbs, there are many
turn-of-the-century villas, most of which were
restored in the late 1990s.
Communist architecture
A major
part of Bucharest's architecture is made up of buildings
constructed during the Communist
era replacing the historical architecture with "more efficient"
high density apartment blocks - significant portions of the historic center of
Bucharest were demolished only for constructing one of the
largest building in the world: Casa
Poporului - Palace of the Parliament. In Nicolae Ceauşescu's project of
systematization many new buildings
were built in previously-historical areas,
which were razed and then built upon from
scratch.
One of the best examples of this type of
architecture is Centrul
Civic, a development that replaced a major part of
Bucharest's historic city centre with giant utilitarian buildings,
mainly with marble or travertine façades, inspired by North Korean
architecture. Communist-era architecture can
also be found in Bucharest's residential districts, mainly in
blocuri, which are high-density apartment blocks that
house the majority of the city's population.
Since
the fall of Communism
in 1989, several Communist-era buildings have been refurbished,
modernised and used for other purposes. Perhaps the best example of
this is the conversion of several obsolete retail complexes into
shopping malls and commercial centres. These giant circular halls,
which were unofficially called
hunger
circuses due to the food shortages experienced in the 1980s,
were constructed during the Ceauşescu era to act as produce markets
and
refectories, although most were left
unfinished at the time of the Revolution.
Modern shopping malls
like Bucharest
Mall, Plaza
Romania and City
Mall
emerged on pre-existent structures of former hunger
circuses. Another example is the modernisation and
conversion of a large utilitarian construction in Centrul Civic into a Marriott
Hotel. This process was accelerated after 2000, when the
city underwent a property boom, and many Communist-era buildings in
the city centre became prime real estate due to their location. In
recent years, many Communist-era apartment blocks have also been
refurbished to improve urban appearance.
Contemporary architecture
The newest contribution to Bucharest's architecture took place
after the fall of Communism, and particularly after 2000, when the
city went through a period of urban renewal and architectural
revitalization on the back of Romania's economic boom. Buildings
from this time are mostly made out of glass and
steel, and often have more than fifteen storeys.
Examples
include shopping malls (particularly the Bucharest Mall, a conversion and extension of an abandoned
building), office buildings, bank headquarters, the Bucharest
World Trade Center
and the Chamber of
Commerce, which lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa. As of 2005,
there is a significant number of office buildings in construction,
particularly in the northern and eastern parts of the city.
Additionally, there has been a trend in recent years to add modern
wings and
façades to historic buildings,
the most prominent example of which is the Bucharest Architects'
Association Building, which is a modern glass-and-steel
construction built inside a historic stone façade. Aside from
buildings used for business and institutions, various new
residential developments are currently underway, many of which
consist of modern high-rise buildings with a glass exterior,
surrounded by American-style residential communities. These
developments are increasingly prominent in the northern suburbs of
the city, which are less densely-populated and are home to around
60 percent of the middle- and upper-class Bucharesters due to the
process of
gentrification.
Media
Bucharest is the most important centre for Romanian media, since it
is the headquarters of all the national television networks as well
as national newspapers and radio stations. The largest daily
newspapers in Bucharest include
Evenimentul Zilei,
Jurnalul Naţional,
Cotidianul,
România Liberă,
Adevărul,
Gardianul and
Gândul. During the rush hours,
tabloid newspapers
Metro,
Libertatea and
Ziarul are very popular for commuters.
A
significant number of newspapers and media publications are based
in Casa Presei
Libere
(The House of the Free Press) a landmark of
northern Bucharest, originally named Casa Scânteii after the
Communist-era official newspaper Scînteia. Casa Presei Libere is
not the only Bucharest landmark that grew out of the media and
communications industry.
Palatul Telefoanelor
("the telephone palace") was the first major
modernist building on Calea Victoriei in the city's centre, and the
massive, unfinished communist-era Casa Radio
looms over a park a block away from the
Opera.
English-language newspapers first became available in the early
1930s then reappeared in 1990s, and have become increasingly
prominent since 2000. There are two daily English-language
newspapers,
Bucharest Daily
News and
Nine O'
Clock, as well as numerous other magazines. A number of
publications in other languages are also available, such as the
Hungarian-language daily
Új
Magyar Szó.
Observator Cultural
covers the city's arts, and the free weekly
Şapte Seri ("Seven Evenings") and
B24FUN lists entertainments of all sorts. The city is also
home to the intellectual journal
Dilema and the satire magazine
Academia Caţavencu, as well as
the usual array of commercial magazines one would find in any
European capital.
Bucharest was the host city of the fourth edition of the
Junior Eurovision Song
Contest 2006.
Universities
Sports
Football is the most
widely-followed sport in Bucharest, with the city having various
club teams that are known throughout Europe. Three football teams
of Bucharest participate in
Liga 1 (League
1), formerly Divizia A, the top division in the Romanian football
league:
The
Lia
Manoliu Stadium
was the largest stadium in Romania (capacity:
60,120). It has now been demolished to make way for a new
stadium, which will host the 2012 Europa League Final. Also there
are sport centres, like Dinamo Sports Park, Ghencea Stadium and the
National Sports Center.
There are also a number of sport clubs for
ice hockey,
rugby
union,
basketball,
handball,
water polo
and
volleyball. The majority of Romanian
track and field athletes, boxers, and a great number of gymnasts
are affiliated with clubs in Bucharest. The Athletics and many
Gymnastics National Championships are held in Bucharest, one main
reason being the city's extensive sporting infrastructure.
Every autumn, Bucharest hosts
BCR Open Romania international tennis tournament,
which is included in the
ATP Tour.
Also, the Romanian
Davis Cup Team usually plays its matches
in Bucharest, either outdoors at the BNR
Arena or indoor at the Sala Polivalentă
. Ice hockey games are held at the Mihai
Flamaropol hall, which holds 8,000 spectators.
Starting
2007 Bucharest has hosted annual races along a temporary urban
track surrounding the Palace of the Parliament, called Bucharest
Ring
. The competition is called the Bucharest
City Challenge, and has hosted
FIA GT,
FIA GT3,
British
F3, and Logan Cup races in 2007 and 2008. The 2009 edition will
not be held in Bucharest due to a conflict with the city hall,
instead it will take place on Hungaroring circuit in Hungary.
Portrayal in film and fiction
- The Dean's
December, a novel by Nobel Prize winner Saul Bellow, is set in communist Bucharest as
well as Chicago
- The American novel The
Historian by Elizabeth
Kostova focuses on Romanian history and the story of Dracula, following one of the main characters who
travels to Bucharest and Romania during the 1930s.
- The British writer Olivia Manning
set part of her Fortunes of
War novel series in Bucharest during World War II.
- The stories in Philip O Ceallaigh's "Notes From A Turkish
Whorehouse" portray life in Bucharest in the immediate
post-communist period.
- The American-produced Romanian-language documentary
Children Underground
(2001) portrays the lives of homeless children in Bucharest.
- The James Bond video game "Agent Under Fire" features two driving
levels through the city of Bucharest.
- The Romanian-language film Filantropica ("Philanthropy", 2002) gives
a satiric portrayal of the city and of many strata of its
life.
- The English-language film The Wild Dogs (2002) gives a
more uniformly bleak portrait of the city.
- The English-dubbed film Entre chiens et loups (2002)
features various parts of the city, suburbs & night-spots as a
backdrop to a French action movie.
- Wesley Snipes starred in 7
Seconds (2005), an action flick filmed entirely on location in
Bucharest. The film features the city's varied architecture.
- Historic Communist Bucharest was depicted in Jack Chick's first comic book, "Operation
Bucharest", first published in 1974. It is loosely based on a
Baptist Ministry called "Couriers For Christ" based there.
- The film adaptation of the novel Blood and Chocolate was set
in Bucharest.
- The French film 'Ils' (2006) was set in Bucharest, based on
real events.
- The 1991 vampire film Subspecies, which was produced
by Full Moon Features, was the
first American film to be filmed in Bucharest. Its sequels would
also be shot around the city and countryside.
- Michael Jackson performed a
concert that sold out September 24, 1992 in Bucharest.
- The opening of the French movie District
13 (Banlieue 13) was filmed in Bucharest. When the film started
it can be seen an entrance of an apartment building, with Romanian
numbered marks above it and a Romanian intercom system which secure
the entrance.
- Two
episodes (season 22, episodes 69 and 70) of The
Bill (a British
television police procedural) took place in
Bucharest.
- Much of the action of the BBC TV series The Last
Enemy was filmed in Bucharest.
- The film Adam Resurrected was
entirely filmed in Bucharest.
- The
2002 German
, Romanian, and French
film Amen. directed by
Costa-Gavras was entirely filmed in
Bucharest.
- The 2006 horror film An
American Haunting written and directed by Courtney Solomon was filmed in
Bucharest.
- The 2008 film Anaconda 3: The Offspring was
partially filmed in Bucharest.
- The upcoming film Anaconda 4: Trail of Blood was
partially filmed in Bucharest.
- Several action films starring
Steven Seagal: Attack Force, Black Dawn, Shadow Man and Flight of Fury were filmed in Bucharest.
International relations
Twin towns—Sister cities
Bucharest has 18
sister cities, as
listed below:
See also
Notes
- Bucharest, the small Paris of the East, on the
Museums from Romania web site.
- Bucica, 2000, p.6.
- PriceWaterhouseCoopers Global Regional Attractiveness Report Romania
- Botanical Garden, onlinegallery.ro. Retrieved 13
October 2006.
- Bucharest Crime Statistics 2000-2004, Bucharest
Directorate-General of Police
- , Conrad N. Hilton
Humanitarian Prize/Council of Europe
- Romania in Cifre-2008 (Romanian)
- Open Society Institute's Survey into Religiosity in
Romania (Microsoft Word document)
- Populaţia şi fenomene demografice pe sectoare
administrative ale Municipiului Bucureşti (Population and
demographic phenomena by administrative sectors of the Municipality
of Bucharest)
- Joint Inclusion Memorandum of Romania
- GDP per inhabitant in 2006 ranged from 25% of the
EU27 average in Nord-est in Romania to 353% in Inner London
(Eurostat, 12 February
2008)
- Major economic indicators of Romania in the period
1 January 2005-30 October 2005 , National Institute of
Statistics of Romania, 9 December 2005
- Toti bucurestenii vor avea dosar fiscal din
2006, Averea,
15 December 2005
- Governing
programme of Adriean Videanu, General Mayor of Bucharest
- Rehabilitation of Urban Roads, Phase II, from
the site of the General Mayor of Bucharest, Adriean Videanu
- „Memorialul Renasterii“, ce oribilitate! ("The
Monument of Rebirth - how horrible!"), Săptămâna
Financiară, August 2005
- Romanian Athenaeum awarded Label of European
Heritage, Romania's Permanent Delegation to NATO
- Chinese New Year's Eve celebrated in Bucharest,
Bucharest Daily News, 7 February
2005
- Children Underground (2001)
- Filantropica (2002)
- The Wild Dogs (2002)
- Entre chiens et loups (2002)
- 7 Seconds (2005) (V)
- Ils (2006)
- Adam Resurrected movie filmed in Bucharest
- Anaconda 4: Trail of Blood partially movie filmed in
Bucharest
References
- Webcam Live in Bucharest
- Modern history of Bucharest, City Hall of
Bucharest
- Şerban Cantacuzino, Două Oraşe Distincte. Revista
Secolul XX 4/6 (1997): 11–40
- Ernie Schoffham, Luminiţa MacHedon, Şerban Cantacuzino,
Romanian Modernism: The Architecture of Bucharest,
1920–1940
- Romania: Arts & Architecture, Romanian Tourist
Office
- Tatiana Murzin, Romanian Education, 2005
- Romanian
Education Portal, Site for the Ministry of Education containing
lists of all educational establishments.
- Overview of Bucharest, Fodor's Travel
Guide
- Bucharest, the small Paris of the East, on the
Museums from Romania web site.
- Bucica, Cristina. , 2000.
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