Romania - Day 4

On our last day in Romania - AJ's birthday - we packed up our stuff and headed to the Palace of the Parliament.

In the morning we had breakfast before we headed out and we couldn't have any fresher honey.  This is a first for me and it was yummy.

The Palace of the Parliament is the second largest building in the world only after the Pentagon.  It was built under Nicolae Ceausecu during a period of economic hardship.  The dictator's tendency was, on the one hand, to focus all the main bodies of the state in one building and, on the other, Ceausescu wanted a safe place to live under a seismic risk, that would hold up to even a nuclear attack.  It was started in 1983-1989 and only 1/2 was finished.  The country wanted it demolished after the revolution, but it would have cost more than completing it.  The cost was 3 billion Euros in 1997 and it takes 3 million Euros a year to run its electricity.

It is 885 feet long and 787 feet wide.  It is also 282 feet high above ground and 262 feet below ground.  There are over 1000 rooms.  It is the heaviest and most expensive building in the world.  Twenty churches were destroyed, 8 were moved, 10,000 homes were demolished, and over 57,000 families were evicted. The following constructions were demolished: the Văcăreşti Monastery, the sacred hill bearing historic significance for Bucharest, located in Mihai Vodă, Spitalul Brâncovenesc which was the first forensic medicine institute in the world, Hala Unirii, the Operetta Building situated in Piaţa Senatului, the Army Arsenal Building and the National Military Museum.  One church was put on rails, moved and put behind a shopping area, the only building to survive.

The building was built with construction materials produced in Romania, amongst which: 1,000,000 cbm of marble, 550,000 tons of cement, 700,000 tons of steel, 2,000,000 tons of sand, 1,000 tons of basalt, 900,000 cbm rich wood, 3,500 tons of crystal, 200,000 cbm of glass, 2,800 chandeliers, 220,000 sqm carpets, 3,500 sqm leather.  The entire construction is the result of over 100,000 workers’ effort, more than 20,000 persons working 24 hours, three shifts per day, during the peak periods. Moreover, between years 1984 and 1990, 12,000 soldiers took part in the construction works.

This is the theatre's chandelier.  It weighs 5 tons and made of crystal and brass.  There are over 2800 chandeliers in the building.

The theatre can seat up to 600 people and they have leather seats for all.

This is one of the outfits that Alana, wife of Nicolae.

This painting captured the spirit of communism.  Men and women are dressed the same and looking in the same direction.  Alana is in red - the leader's wife.  She was vicious at the end of the rule and was hated more at the end.

These are all over the place on the floor.  It is a mini map of the palace.

Even the hallways are amazing to look at.  It is over 492 feet long and has 34 columns made from concrete and steel and then was covered with marble.

This is one of Nicolea's offices.  It is made out of oak cherry wood and walnut.  The ceilings are hand carved and the tapestries and curtains are all silk.  He spared no expense.  The palace is heated with boiled water.  Rooms in the center of the building have the air sucked from outside through water and then into the building because he was afraid of poison from the outside air.

These are for different countries, they have translators in each one for them.

This is Alana's office.  You can see the difference between this and her husband's office.  It is lighter, pink marble columns and stucco on the ceiling.  

These are two staircases that they would make their grand entrance.  This chamber is in the center of the palace and the guests would come in the front doors to here.  This is the largest carpet weighing 3 1/2 tons and takes 30 people to unroll it.

These posters that are religious have not been here since the beginning.  A director filmed a movie here and the posters stayed.   The director wanted to use the Vatican. 

This room was a tribute for Asian Orient.  There are no windows, 16 chandeliers and 34 wall lamps.  There is a great echo in this room.  Nicolea made it that way so when he recorded his propaganda speeches, it sounded like there were more people in the crowd.

This is the big ballroom.  It is 7874 square feet and the columns are over 52 feet tall.  The red curtains weigh over 440 pounds each.  There are 28 chandeliers in this room alone. 

The big empty spaces on each end of the ballroom was where portraits of Nicolea and Alana were supposed to be.  You can see how immense the area is with David and Michael standing there.  They don't use this room for weddings, but they have used it for some graduation parties. 

This was the official high protocol office of Nicolea.  It is the highest at 69 feet.  This room was built like a vault from a single piece.  There are 1000 seats in here.

There are nine skylights on the ceiling. 

This was Nicolea's orchestra box - always up higher than everybody else.  Interesting fact - Nicolea never got to use the building.  It was only 55% done when he was taken from power.

AJ out on the balcony with the city behind him.  There are 4 libraries, a gym, medical labs and 2,400 people work here a day.

This is project Bucharest.  There are 42 fountains for each county of Romania.  The building is linked with tunnels underneath to the metros, Marriot, and other buildings.  There are 20 atomic bunkers with 10 feet of concrete. 

I found this as interesting.  They seal the doors every single night.  In the morning it is a job to go and unseal the rooms that need to be used that day.  There was one room we were supposed to see, but it was unsealed.  The tour guide could not open that room and he said it would take too long to get it opened now.   30% of the building is not used and unfinished.  We walked over a mile on our tour and only saw 4% of the building.

This is the back side of the Parliament.  If you look close, in the middle, that is where we were standing on the balcony.

We headed out to have one last look at a few things in town before we got on our flight.  We stopped at this one and we were all trying to figure out what it was.  We thought maybe a toothpick with an olive in it.  Revolution Square is remembered in history for it was from here , from the Headquarters of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party, tried to escape people's fury.  Nicolae Ceausescu took a helicopter on December 22nd, 1989, during a manifestation which was supposed to glorify him, but which ended in a bloody Revolution.  The helicopter took him and his wife out of Bucharest.  They were caught and executed at Targoviste City on December 25th.  This is the monument for the victims of the Anti-Communist Revolution in 1989. 

It was a wonderful trip and another trip of a lifetime!!  I am glad that AJ decided he wanted to go here for his birthday!!  It was a great birthday trip for all of us!!