| Parliament Palace (Casa Poporului) tips and photos posted by real travelers and Bucharest locals. • 150 Photos
• 78 Reviews
See all Bucharest Things To Do |
 | Bucharest Parliament Palace (Casa Poporului) Reviews | 1 - 10 of 78 |  |
The Parliament Palace is an immense edifice, a last piece of work of the Romanian people under the Communist dictatorship and an extremely large building in centre of Bucharest.
First, it was named as “House of the folk” (Casa Poporului), but the people were only the workers, and the real property owner was the dictator and his family.
The colossus's construction started at the beginning of the second last decade of the twentieth century and was ended in 1997.
In 1989, as Ceausescu died, only the facade of the house was finished.
Statistically, the palace is the second-biggest edifice of the world, after the Pentagon Buildings.
-12 floors
-84 meters high
-330,000 square meter construction area
The extreme luxury is to be seeing by the whole construction.
The inside of the buildings, just like the external side, possess so much luxury and elegance, which impress by the first gaze.
The Union hall (Sala Unirii), with a surface of 2200 sqm, is the largest hall of the buildings.
In this area, hangs a candelabrum, which weighs three tons and has 7000 little lamps.
The building is opened for visitors, every day, between 10 am and 4 pm.
Visit this palace, when you are in Bucharest; it is worthwhile! Leave a Comment Address: Calea 13 Septembrie, nr. 1, BucharestPhone: +040 21 402 14 26
|
 | |  |
Visiting Bucharest?
Read reviews about Bucharest Hotels
Real Reviews from Real VirtualTourist Members.
 The Palace of the Parliament
a.k.a. Fool's Pyramid by Romanian_Bat, 1 more photos
The Civic Centre was meant to be a fully functional area where the “working people” would find everything they needed and where the socialist victory was at its best; in fact, this area was meant for the important official figures; we are talking about an area of the city located between Alba Iulia Square and the Palace of the Parliament. The avenue in the center of this stretch, Unirii Avenue (originally called “The Socialism Victory”) was intended as the main axis for former President Ceauºescu’s utopian dreams; this avenue was built to exceed the length of the Champs Elysees by 6 meters.
The main piece of the area is the Palace of the Parliament, the second biggest building in the world. It was built in shape of a pyramid, it has 12 floors above the ground (84 m. tall) and a total surface of 330,000 sq. m. The grand staircases, huge doorways and the huge number of rooms, many of which are still unused make it for this crazy “Achievement of the Socialist Era”. The widest hall, the Unification Hall (2,200 sq. m. wide and 16 m. tall), has a sliding ceiling large enough for a helicopter to land and a 14 tons carpet woven on premises. The heaviest chandelier in the building (the one in the small Parliament Hall) weights 3 tons and has 7,000 bulbs. The whole building is not yet fully accomplished. On the site where it exists today, there used to be a hill: Spirii Hill, hosting “Curtea Noua” fortress. In order to have the Palace built, the Court, as well as the whole old neighborhood around it, were razed off, while the hill actually perished, with the diggings meant to create the huge hall for the underground levels of the future Palace.
Note: If you want to visit the palace, prepare yourself for a thorough security checking, similar to the one at the airport. Also, do not expect formalities to be fast or staff to be polite, for they are generally not, rather being perfect clerks of Kadare's pyramid they work in. Leave a Comment
|
| | |
 Pariament House by RoBeauty
Vilage Museum, the State Opera and the National Museum.
Cross the Dambovita River and wonder at the Old Town Square, with its baroque buildings and cobblestone streets, refreshing "Litlle Paris "Flavour.
There is wonderful architecture to admire and an intriguing history to discover. Leave a Comment
|
 by violeta13
I recommend you the public tour of the buiding! Admission costs around 2,5 E.
It's open between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm Leave a Comment Address: Calea 13 Septembrie nr. 1Phone: +4021 3113611
|
Ceausescu's lasting legacy is the Palace of Parliament, formerly known as the People's Palace, believed to be the 2nd largest building in the world behind the Pentagon.
Ceausescu got the idea for this monstrosity after visiting Kim II Sung’s North Korea in 1972. He wanted to build the largest, most opulent palace in the world and he did just that at the expense of the Romanian people. He was determined to pay off the foreign debt caused by the construction and did so by starving the Romanian people, sending most of the agricultural product overseas.
Guided tours are given in several different languages, we had to wait about a 1/2 hour for an English guided tour as they do not leave on any scheduled basis.
Our guide was a rather curt young lady who threatened sanctions against people who might wander off the tour or take photos without paying the required fee of 300,000 lei ($11 US). Although she asked if there were any questions numerous times, her answer to most was "officially I can't answer that". Whether the propaganda machine was still in effect here or whether she truly didn't know remains a mystery. Among those questions unanswered were how many people died during construction, how many floors were below ground, whether or not there were underground tunnels and how much it cost to build the place.
The tour only visits about 5% of the Palace, it's hard not to be impressed by the craftsmenship of the marble staircases, solid wood doors, crystal chandeliers and oriental carpets. However, I found the Palace be aesthetically unappealing, rather it left me feeling cold. The visit includes a view from the balcony where Ceausescu planned on addressing the people but he was dead by the time it was finished in 1990. Michael Jackson was the first to use it, our guide said he said "Hello Budapest" not remembering where he was :-) Leave a Comment
|
| | |
Visiting Bucharest?
Read reviews about Bucharest Hotels
Real Reviews from Real VirtualTourist Members.
 The Parliament Palace,
Bucharest by Andraf
But I know that this building is a big tourist attraction in Bucharest (the second largest building in the world in terms of surface, competing with the Pentagon in size). That's why I decided to include it in this guide. I visited the building once, when they opened it for public in 1990 and the rooms are the biggest I've seen in my life. The building is now used as the parliament house as well as for conferences and exhibitions and can be visited by guided tours. Leave a Comment Address: Blvd Unirii
|
| | |
 Parliament House by gosiaPL
Built in 1984-1989, it used to be Ceaucescu headquarters (not for too long though). Now it is the House of Deputies and seat of state offices and institutions. Its spacious rooms are also used for international conferences, music events and such like.
I understand it raises mixed feelings among Romanians - from hatred of its overall Soviet-style look to extreme pride of Romanian architectural genius that designed this giant building. I must say I had mixed feelings too... Coming from a former communist-ruled country I can easily understand this type of hatred, but it does not stop me from admiring some architectural details, particularly the arches which seem to be so typical for Bucharest architecture. Even the airport building has them! Leave a Comment Directions: At the end of Bulevardul Unirii, with a nice view of Piata Unirii Sq.
|
| | |
If you limit to walking along the large boulevards, then you fall into a trap - you're able to see only what others (urbanists, communists, etc.) wanted you to see, and not the real city as it stands today.
An off-beaten path from Unirii square to Ceausescu palace is the one which will show you what others didn't want you to see, but the original thing. Simply take the route behind the concrete blocks, and you’ll get to a different perspective: nice old houses and small villas, surrounded by refreshing courtyards, little old churches every 500m, a nice restaurant (Casa Bucur) and some pubs.
A must see on this 20 minutes path are:
- Domnita Balasa Church (see separate tip)
- Casa Bucur - Hotel & Restaurant. I would recommend eating in there upon the following conditions – you have more than 1 hour to spare, and as a hotel, if budget is not a problem and…you don’t mind being among the only customers. See accomodation rates at link above
- Petru & Pavel Church - one of the oldest ones in town
- Lahovary Church (original 1884 exquisite paintings from one of most famous Romanian painters – Gh. Tatarascu).
- a former monastery, opposite Lahovary church near piata Natiunilor Unite Leave a Comment Address: An off-beaten path from Unirii to Ceausescu Palace
|
| | |
The Palace of Parlament or Casa Poprului is the most impressive building in Romania considering the sheer size of it. Take a look from the side as well as from the front. It strongly reminded me of the Stalinist architecture of the 7 sisters in Moscow or the Stalinist highrises in Warsaw and Riga. Leave a Comment
|
 Just sooo big... by gosiaPL
Well, it can't look any smaller. Ceaucescu had a whole quarter destroyed to build this monster. People's houses were brought down and they were given just flats in compensation. Even a big hospital was destroyed to provide more space, and apparently the palace grounds also incorporated a soccer field (not sure if it was a big stadium though). If you have the time, go around the whole place to really get an idea of its size (I went around by taxi). And if, by any chance, you stay at the Marriott Grand Hotel (which I did not), you'll have a view of the palace from the back. Leave a Comment
|
|
- Calea Victoriei Residence
Calea Victoriei, Bucharest - Hotel Moldova
16 Nicolae Balcescu St, Bucharest - Golden Tulip Sky Gate
283 Calea Bucurestilor, Bucharest - Confort Traian Bucharest
55 Traian St, Bucharest - Kiwi Hostel
Viilor Street 44, Sector 5, Bucharest - NH Hotel Bucharest
Bulevardul Mircea Voda, 21 Sector 3, Bucharest - Hotel Relax Bucharest Comfort Suites
22 Nicolae Balcescu Bulevard Sector 1, Bucharest - Ibis Bucuresti Gara De Nord
Calea Grivitei 143, Sector 1, Bucharest - Hotel Opera
Str. Brezoianu nr. 37, Sector 1, Bucharest - Tania Hotel
5 Selari Str, Bucharest - Ibis Bucarest Parliament House Hotel
82-84 Izvor Street, Bucharest - Caro Club
Barbu Vacarescu Blvd., 164A, Bucharest - JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Calea 13 Septembrie No. 90 5th District, Bucharest - Minerva Hotel Bucharest
2-4 Gheorghe Manu St, Sector 1, Bucharest - Hotel Lev Or
25 Occidentului St District 1, Bucharest
|
