Bucharest: key facts

On the surface, Bucharest presents the same characteristics as any other post- communist capital. It reflects a complex historical, economical, cultural and social context marked by communism and the change to democracy. It has an economy and society struggling to find its feet in a globalised arena. And its built environment has communist architecture. A deeper look reveals a set of differentiating characteristics from other CEE capitals. Bucharest’s culture is influenced by its status as the only Latin orthodox capital in the world, as well as Turkish and Russian domination. Its beginnings are attributed to Vlad the Impaler Dracula. And the city suffered major changes during communism due to the visions of Dictator Nicole Ceausescu.

Bucharest is a fairly young capital compared to Paris or Vienna. The

unification of Romania took place at the end of the First World War. Up till then the territory was split between three provinces: Wallachia, Moldova and Transylvania. Bucharest became the capital of Wallachia in 1459. This status was reconfirmed in 1862 when the unification with Moldova took place and again in 1918 when the unification with Transylvania took place (Klepper, 2007). Bucharest’s history may be divided into five broad periods: early Bucharest, royal Bucharest, inter-war Bucharest, communist Bucharest and post-communist Bucharest. Each period can be tied to a particular set of heritage. Figure 4.1 shows a tourist map of the city.

Bucharest is said to have been founded by a shepherd called Bucur sometime in the 12th century. Other legends state that the city was founded in the 14th

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century by Negru Voda, a Romanian prince, ruler of Wallachia (Colfescu, 2003).

Figure 4.1 Bucharest tourist map

Source: Romanian Tourist Office (2012)

The city owes much of its early developments to Vlad III Teapes (Vlad the Impaler/Dracula), prince of Wallachia, who moved his court to Bucharest in

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1459 (Colfescu, 2003). The popular name given to Bucharest’s historical quarter is Lipscani. This includes the ruins of the old palace, religious heritage, and a maze of cobbled streets dating back to the Middle Ages; the style of architecture being influenced to a great extent by the Otoman invasions. It was known as the ‘merchant’s quarter’ (Nedelcovici, 2007). The dotted red square in Figure 4.1 marks the historical area on the map.

The city developed around the old royal court and the commercial quarter Lipscani. Bucharest evolved as a series of districts or suburbs. Most of the old districts no longer exist. Communism was responsible for much of their destruction (Popescu, 2007; Nedelcovici, 2007; Pandele, 2009). Liscani was the only part of the old city that survived systematisation under communism (Popescu, 2007; Nedelcovici, 2007; Pandele, 2009). At present, around the historical area there is a mix of architecture styles from an old wooden country inn with interior courtyard, to buildings constructed during the royal age, and communist tower blocks.

Small shops inhabited Lipscani selling or repairing almost anything cheaply. The area was also known for its creativity, with many music and art studios and shops. Because some of the buildings were vacant due to ownership issues, gypsies were occupying them illegally, making the area somewhat unsafe (Mucenic, 2004; Stahl, 2006). Bucharest City Hall planned to regenerate the area for a long time. Ownership issues and lack of funds affected the

restoration of the area (EVZ, 2009). Renovation and modernisation schemes unveiled more medieval remains. Excavation and infrastructure updating took many years and have yet to be completed. Most of the historical buildings were reclaimed by their pre-communism owners, sold and renovated by investors and expats (EVZ, 2009).

Between 1866 and 1947 Romania becomes a kingdom. Bucharest embraces Western designs, predominantly French, Mediterranean, Oriental and Balkan influences in its built environment. A large number of attractions and palaces are built at this stage including the Royal Palace, now the National Museum of Art. Wide boulevards such as Victory Avenue, Elisabeth Boulevard and Enescu Square, monuments such as the Romanian Athenaeum or The

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Macca-Villacrosse Passageway and The CEC Palace are built (Parusi, 2009; Stahl, 2006; Popescu-Limina, 2007). Because the aspect of the city reminds visitors of Paris, the city gains the reputation of Little Paris or Paris of the East (Colfescu, 2003).

Bucharest preserves its strong connection to the rural world. Two of

Bucharest’s main attractions, The Village Museum, and the Peasant Museum, are also built at this time. Both capture the Romanian rural architecture and lifestyle. Bucharest’s two major parks are also the result of this period: Cismigiu Gardens and Herastrau Park (Parusi, 2009)

1920s to 1930s are considered Bucharest’s best years (Popescu-Lumina, 2007). The decade was characterised by a booming economy because of grain

exports; a growing foreign investments; a booming construction industry; a large increase in new residents; and culture at an all time high with artists, writers and musicians such as Brancusi, Eliade, or Enescu, achieving international fame (Colfescu, 2003; Popescu-Lumina, 2007).

1947 to 1989 marks Bucharest’s communist years. Ceausescu’s greatest achievement being the Parliament Palace (Pandele, 2009). Post-communist Bucharest is frequently associated with scandals involving gypsies and petty thefts and public scandals in EU member states, orphans, stray dogs and animal rights activists, and political instability, for being polluted and not having enough green spaces, for being dirty, congested by traffic, and poor transport infrastructure (Parusi, 2009).

Romania and Bucharest are not the only country and capital with troubled pasts, or classifiable as fairly ‘young’ compared to Western Europe. Most Central and East European countries and capitals share the same historical and heritage characteristics. For example, Bulgaria being under Turkish/Ottoman rule for many decades; Moldova claiming its independence from the former USSR/Russia only two decades ago; Czechoslovakia breaking into two

independent countries, are further examples of the regions troubled nature, but also tourist potential, as they are all fairly new, unexplored destinations. From another perspective Bucharest and Romania differentiate themselves from other CEE countries and capitals. Historically, Bucharest is one of the

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poorest capitals in Europe. For example, Dawson (1993:145) ranks a number of countries based on their economic development during the 19930s, mid 1970s, and late 1980s. Countries such as Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden registered at the top for all three periods; while Romania positioned itself at the bottom. For the late 1980s, the bottom six places are taken up by at that time communist states: Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland and in last place Romania.