Boulevards, Bucharest

4 more images

Seeing Magheru Boulevard on a weekend with only a few cars speeding by, it will be hard to be believe that this is the one of the busiest streets in Bucharest. Come Monday, the boulevard is packed with cars barely inching along. Magheru Boulevard, named after General Gheorghe Magheru, a Romanian revolutionary, runs parallel to Victory Road (Calea Victoriei in Romanian) and even though Calea Victoriei is more imporant historically, nowadays Magheru is the commercial lider being one of the most expensive streets in Europe in terms of renting commercial spaces. For those interested in seeing between the wars architecture Magheru is the perfect place for a stroll, because most of the buildings that line the boulevard are from the 20s and 30s.

3 more images

So this is the main road leading to / from the palace of parliament, its busy with traffic but still an enjoyable walk, there is plenty of room between the road and footpath. the centre of the road is lined with fountains and the further up it you get the better the view of the Parliament building is.
Strangely compelling walk!

4 more images

Calea Victoriei, one of the oldest avenues in the city, includes most of the major old buildings that have survived two World Wars and the communist 80s. It was established by Voyevode Constantin Brancoveanu starting with 1692, as a road paved with oak beams that made the connection between his palace on the shore of Dambovita (in the area of the actual 17 floors reddish building) and his domain in Mogosoaia (where one can still see the Brancoveanu Palace). At first it was called Podul Mogosoaiei (En. the Bridge to Mogosoaia), exactly because of the wooden beams. In 1878 the victorious Romanian army returned from the Independence War and crossed Bucharest along this avenue and this is why it was afterwards called Calea Victoriei (En. the Victory Avenue). A stroll along this 2700 m. long street, starting from Dambovita River and ending in Victoria Square will go as it follows. Immediately after we start, to the left, there is the imposing CEC building (1896-1900), hosting one of the oldest banks in the city set up in Eclectic style (see my special tip for this building). Just across the street there is the former Palace of the Post Company (built in 1894-1900) that nowadays hosts the biggest museum in the country, namely The National History Museum, in a grand, neoclassical building (see my special tip for this building). After passing by Zlatari Church (built in 1850-1852 and formerly surrounded by Zlatari Inn, demolished in 1903), we notice to the left the Police headquarters and just across the street the entrance towards Vilacrosse Passage, a glass covered street that continues with Macca Passage and exits 200 m. later on the same avenue. On the main avenue we continue and, just after passing by a fashion store, we notice, through the narrow passage under a new building, a church to the right: Doamnei Church (1683). The church borrows some features for the window frame decorations from the Moldavian style, also having a rich sculpture on the doors and beautiful frescoes made by Konstantinos.

4 more images

A short while afterwards, on the same left side of the street we meet George Enescu Museum, hosted by a great and monumental building, Cantacuzino Palace (see my special tip for this building). Across the street from it there is the former Italian Legation, nowadays hosting the Art History Institute; the building was designed by architects Grigore Cerchez and Alexandre Clavel, a fine sample of the Eclectic style that was prevailing during the end of the 19th century, with Neoclassical decoration. Soon afterwards we enter Victoria Square in which there are also a few places to mention. To the left, between Ion Mihalache Avenue and Kiseleff Road there is Grigore Antipa Natural History Museum (as we enter from Victoria Avenue, we turn left, cross the tram lines, turn right and cross Titulescu Avenue on top of the passage, then cross once again the tram lines to the right and reach the Antipa). Farther up the Kiseleff there is the Romanian Peasant Museum and across the street from it there is the Geology Museum. See my special posts for them. After crossing Kiseleff Road and Aviatorilor Avenue, we can cast a look at the Romanian Government building (1937-1952, originally meant for the Foreign Affairs Ministry).

4 more images

Returning on Victory Avenue, we immediately cross Regina Elisabeta Avenue. To the left there is the “Cercul Militar National” (The National Army Club), a French neoclassical building with an imposing 21 m. tall facade and corrinthean columns (1912). To the right there soon appears Capsa Restaurant (established in 1881), one of the classical places in the inter bellum city (nowadays quite expensive) and then, behind Attaturk statue, there is one of the smallest and still loveliest theaters in Bucharest, Odeon Theatre. On the opposite side of the street there is the Phone Palace (the first high building in the city, built in 1933 by two American architects, Louis Weeks and Walter Froy) and on the right, one of the oldest hotels in the city, namely Continental Hotel (1886), currently closed for restoration (rumour has it that they will turn it into a Kempinski). Across the street from the Continental there is a strange building. Otherwise an ugly and misplaced glass covered box (I find even communist apartment buildings more appealing than these characterless glass covered boxes), they have recreated in front of it the old facade of the National Theatre, bombed in WW2 (and rebuilt in University Square).
Soon afterwards we enter the wide Revolution Square (Piata Revolutiei), which concentrates a few interesting buildings, also playing host to the 1989 revolution with most of the buildings here suffering from the shootings. The first to be noticed is Cretulescu Church (1720-1722) to our left, a typical monument built in the Brancoveanu style (the only sort of a Romanian architectural style, blending elements from the traditional households with a trace of baroque and the Orthodox church structure). On the same side of the street there is Romania’s finest museum and possibly the sole good legacy of the shooting, because it was damaged in such a way that they had to entirely refurbish it and therefore make it a modern museum: The Royal Palace (see my separate tip regarding to the Royal Palace / National Art Museum).

3 more images

Bulevardul Unirii is the greatest of Bucharest's boulevards constructed during the Ceausescu era. It links Piata Unirii to the Palace of the People and is flanked by grand apartment blocks built for the Communist Party elite.

2 more images

Bulevardul General Magheru, referred to locally simply as Magheru, is one of Bucharest's main streets. It runs parallel to Calea Victoriei, which it rivals in commercial, if not historical, importance. It links Piaţa Romană to Universitate and it is lined with shops, offices, cinemas and cafes.

4 more images

Calea Victoriei is Bucharest's' oldest and grandest boulevard. It was built in 1692 by Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu, to link his summer palace to the city centre. It is lined with neo-Classical buildings, like the Cercul Militar, hotels, theatres, restaurants and expensive clothes shops.