Europe

[Visited: March 2011 and several times before]

From outside, the building looks colossal, and it is, because it is the second largest building in the world in surface (the first being the Pentagon). To build it, 7000 houses, churches, monasteries, synagogues and a hospital had to be destroyed. Decoration of the palace is lavish, with marble and gold leafs recurrent materials; the building has some 4,500 chandeliers alone! An enormous workload of people (700 architects alone) constructed the building in just 4 years - pity that it did not help the Romanians much. In a way, justice was served because the Ceausescus did not live to see the building completed.
Inside, you can join a tour and the guide will tell you all kinds of details of the building that was supposed to house ministries, high functionaries, and Communist Party offices. It has been nicknamed Madman's house, but also, mistakenly, referred to as Ceausescu Palace although it was never his intention to use it as such. Nicolae had a serious problem and wanted everything to be bigger, longer, higher, wider. To achieve this, nothing was spared. All materials came from Romania, and some parts (notably, stairs) had to be rebuilt several times simply because the Ceausescu's were not happy. Of each set of stairs, the steps had to be designed according to the physical specifications of either Mrs. or Mr. Ceausescu. In the construction, the superiority of this sick couple was to come out clearly. At present, the building is being used as a Parliament Palace and for all kinds of gatherings.
Although he was executed in 1989, Ceausescu has left a landmark building that is here to stay and to remind Bucharest of its grim recent history. For a few years, the Romanians were undecided about what to do with it, but the building was saved from demolition and is open to the public now. It is a must-see, to better understand the actual situation, and also to see where megalomaniacs can lead to. At least it is easy to find: it towers high above its surrounding area. The guide showing you around the palace has lots of figures ready; among these, the 3 million euro energy bill stood out as a good indication of the enormity of this monster. Where walking around the building could take you around half an hour, I had the idea I only saw a very tiny part of the Palace in the tour that lasted only an hour and a half. In the end, the question is, how long will this Palace survive, and what will its function be in the future?

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Palace of Parliament (Romania)

Palace of Parliament > Romania > Europe

[Visited: March 2011 and several times before]

Around the World in 80 Clicks