Reasons to Visit the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest

The Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, or the People’s Palace as was called during Ceauceșcu’s regime, is a monument witnessing the not so distant past of Romania’s history and shows how quickly the country has changed in recent years. It is one of the most important historic places in Bucharest, so heading for a tour inside the building is of great importance. Below, we have highlighted few points of why it is of utter importance to see the Palace of the Parliament. This visit can be combined with tours around the Bucharest's most important museums, and can be reached via any taxi company.
 

Dense history

Nicolae Ceauceșcu was the face of the Communist Party in Romania, serving as the country’s last Socialist leader. Pushing a ‘cult of personality’ rule, he decorated the streets with posters of his face, leaving irreversible marks on the country’s landscape. Some extremities he practiced daily, in order to cement his regime and keep the people in line, were ending freedom of speech and free media, while reinforcing strict laws, imposed with the assistance of his secret police - the Securitate.

After one of the most violent revolutions Europe has ever seen, Nicolae Ceaușescu was forced to escape from the country, being eventually sentenced to death on Christmas Day 1989. As a result of his regime, he left a decline in the economy of the country, hand in hand with a difficult livelihood for Romanian people, as an addition to the incomplete palace. The Palace of the Parliament is widely known as ‘Ceauceșcu’s Palace’, as a symbol of utilitarian rule and outrageous luxury where the politician would have resided, if he hadn’t been overthrown in a coup d’état. Initially, the construction of the palace started with the purpose of building a home of the Communist government in Romania, and a residence of the Ceauceșcu family. The Palace of the Parliament today is a gigantic imprint on the landscape of Bucharest, and a symbol of Romania’s sore history and totalitarian rule. Since the fall of the Communist regime in Romania a few decades ago, the palace mainly serves as a tourist attraction, with only part of the rooms used as parliamentary headquarters.
 

It is huge and strikingly luxurious

The luxurious palace is completely made of marble, steel and finest Romanian materials. It is the world’s second largest building – the only bigger one is the Pentagon - spreading over 360,000 square meters. It has a head-spinning number of rooms, 1,100 of them across 12 stories. This humungous building can even be seen from space. The construction took 13 years, and there are parts of the palace still remaining under construction even today. Its construction began in the early 1990s, at a time when Romania was going through extreme poverty. In the place where power cuts were very common and the smart use of basic goods was a daily practice, Ceauceșcu managed to destroy or relocate hundreds of buildings, both residential and religious, thus making room for his Communist imprint. This action pressed thousands of people to pack their families overnight and move into smaller residential areas, while struggling for bare existence.

Today it is the home of the Parliament, the Office of the President, the Romanian Senate, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum and Park of Totalitarianism and Socialist Realism and the Romanian Competition Counsel, as well as offering rooms for concerts and conferences.  A striking part of the building is yet unused – full 30%.
 

It is the heaviest building on Earth

With 700,000 metric tons of steel and bronze, and over 1,000,000 cubic meters of Transylvanian marble covering the surfaces, along with 3,500 metric tons of crystal glass to make the 480 chandeliers, 900,000 cubic meters of wood woven into the designs, 200,000 square meters of carpet which covers parts of the interiors, some of them so large, that the weaving machines were placed inside to make the carpets on the spot, this building is the heaviest one on the planet. The car park beneath the building accommodates 20,000 cars and the curtains on the main staircase were hand-woven in monasteries around Bucharest, while each curtain weighs 250 kg.
 

Destruction of local heritage

To make room for such a grand palace, Ceaușescu decided to demolish a large part of Bucharest’s historical districts, including 19 Orthodox Churches, 6 Synagogues, 3 Protestant Churches, hand in hand with 30,000 homes. He razed a fifth of the city to the ground in order to push this project through. The network of underground tunnels is so huge and vast, that Top Gear staged a race there in 2009. It is estimated that 20,000 workers toiled in 24-hour shifts, seven days a week in order to build it. The construction process involved 400 architects and they were all coordinated by a young woman named Anca Petrescu, only 28 years-old at the time.
 

It’s all about the size actually

Ceaușescu set his mind to owning the largest, heaviest and most extravagant Palace of the Parliament in the world. The building has 20 floors (8 of which are underground), 100 rooms and a total size of 330.000 square meters, ranked as the second largest in the world by the Guinness Book of Records, in the “Administrative Buildings” category. The Palace of Parliament got its name back when it became the headquarters of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Historians today argue the size of the palace as a demonstration of power and oppression over the Romanian people. As you see it and enter it, you will clearly understand this concept.

Being one of the largest monuments in the world, reminding the nation of a fallen oppressive regime, the Palace of Parliament is a must-see in Bucharest. We strongly recommend a visit to one of the most famous restaurants in Bucharest after this, where you can discuss your impressions with good food and drink. Ordering a taxi online should not be an issue for this part of the city.