28/08/2012
BUCHAREST CITY TOUR
Founded in 1459, on the banks of the Dambovita River, by ruler Vlad Tepes, Bucharest become later the capital city of the Princely Court. The tradition connects the founding of Bucharest with the name of Bucur who was a princely person, an outlaw, a fisher or a shepherd according to different legends. But a fact is doubtless: the name of Bucur is of a Thracian (Geto – Dacian) origin. Bucharest proved to be a great European metropolis many years ago. In 1701 – 1702, Sword bearer Mihai Cantacuzino built the Coltea Monastery with 12 beds for men and 12 beds for women, free of charge. It was the first “hospital” in Bucharest, situated on the place of the modern one of our days, downtown.
In 1857 the building of the Palace of Academy, the future University, started using the projects of arch. Alexandru Orascu. Bucharest has always been in front of progress. It had gas lamps in 1861 before Paris and Berlin. In 1864, its Town hall was founded by law. The first commercial and handicraft frequented place of the town is ”the Great Street” – the Lipscani Street at present, dated in a document from June, 5th, 1589. Lipscani is a famous street in the historic downtown of Bucharest, only a few meters far from Kilometer number 0 of The Romanian Capital. Lipsca is apparently the Romanian transcription of the name of Leipzig, and Lipscani was the name of the merchants who sold goods imported from Leipzig. In our days it is an important commercial street which crosses other little streets named after different old professions: “The big Street of Saddlers”, “The Street of Locksmiths”. The town is also a cultural European town - this is where its name “ The Little Paris”, come from. The population of Bucharest was of a quarter of the one of Paris. Now in Bucharest more than two million people live.
In the second half of the XIXth century and early in the XXth century, important buildings were built: the National Bank (1883-1885), Foisorul de Foc(1892-1893), the Museum of the Romanian Literature (1873), the Romanian Academy (1890), the Palace of Justice (1890-1895), the Northern Railway Station (1868-1872), the Palace of Parliament on the Hill of the Metropolitan Church (1907), Grigore Antipa Museum (1908). In 1935 the Triumph Arch was built on the beautiful Kiseleff Avenue which is longer than Champs Elysees in Paris.
The II World War, the failure of monarchy, and the communist regime succeed. In the Unification Square numerous blocks of flats with 6000 rooms were built and also on the Unification Boulevard (the one to the former People’s House, the Parliament building now).
Bucharest is a real garden-town. From this point of view Cismigiu Park is a reference point.
The boulevards of Bucharest are cut from North to South and from East to West, but not very straight. The Victory Road is the vertebral column of Bucharest. Along this road there are very interesting building. The Stavropoleos Church is a real jewel; (it is built by a Greek monk in 1724).
The Post Palace (now the National History Museum) – opened in 1900 – looks like the Federal Post Palace in Geneve.
In 1878, a large-hearted Romanian returned from Athens, where he has been a diplomatic agent, wanting to build a “house of art” with concert hall, exhibition halls, library and a picture gallery - the Athenaeum. The name of this Romanian was Constantin Exarcu. He was helped by Scarlat Rosetti. V.A. Urechia, Nicolae Kretzulescu. They decided to built the Athenaeum with the French architect Albert Galleron who also built the National Bank of Romania. The expenses were much over the money they had. So they initiated a public collection with the motto: “Give one leu for the Athenaeum".
So, in 1888 the Romanian Athenaeum was finished. A happy joining between Rome and Athens, with its façade inspired by Erehteion, the wings of the Sibyle Temple in Tivoli and the crowning of the Lisicrat Monument. The Athenaeum was, is and will be for a long time the mark of Bucharest like the Eiffel Tower for Paris, the Sant Angelo Castle for Rome and the Parliament building for London. At his death, Constantin Exarcu left its fortune to the Romanian Athenaeum. Here in Exarcu’s Athenaeum Hubermann, Kubelik, Enescu and Voicu, Sauer, Paderewski and Ursuleasa played violin and piano, Cortez, Nicolesco and Carusso sang.
The old town is still a part of Bucharest. The Old Court (former Princely Court of Vlad Tepes) is now an open-air museum; one can also see its little church dating from the XVIth century, on the Iuliu Maniu Street. Nearby there is the famous, Manuc’s Inn, a former caravanserai, built in 1808 and reopened as a hotel-restaurant.
The Patriarchate Church, situated on the Union Boulevard was built in 1657.
The museums in Bucharest are rich. The Village Museum –an open-air museum- is situated in the Herastrau Park , near the Triumph Arch. On a surface of 15 ha, by the lake, there are 198 buildings of authentic peasant architecture from all over Romania. Other important museums are: the National Art Museum, the Museum of Art Collections, Cotroceni National Museum and the National History Museum which keeps the gold, silver and jewels of the National Treasure.
You are welcomed in Bucharest–a modern European metropolis !
Panoramic Tour 3 1/2 - 4 Hrs
The tour include the Village museum indoor visit and the Parliament house on request
