Why are churches in Bucharest "hidden"? by josephescu
It?s easy to observe that many of the churches in Bucharest are hidden either behind or between larger modern buildings. But this is not because people lost faith or they did not care any longer about the church in their neighbourhood. Communists did not believe in anything other than themselves, but this was not enough. Ceausescu, the last of the communist rulers of Romania, hated to see churches while going by car through Bucharest. Besides, we wanted both to systematise the city after his own criteria and to leave his mark through the history of the city.
So in the mid ?80s, he ordered many churches to be demolished to make way for his grandiose plans. Some architects tried to protect monument churches and monasteries in the city centre as much as they could, and in some cases they succeeded. Therefore, some churches were literally moved from their initial location by even 500m, while others have been ?hidden from sight?, by raising tall blocks either in front of them, or on each of their sides.
Unfortunately, the propensity of architects to build large buildings in the close vicinity of old churches continues nowadays. There?s an 18 story office building under construction within 10m from the Armenian Church, while another 22 story building seems to be raised near the catholic cathedral.
