The Palace of Parliament in Bucharest is definitely one of the places to visit on any trip to the capital city of Romania. It is one of our favorite memories. Granted, I was not impressed with the building from the outside. It is pretty imposing, and you almost get a sense of foreboding, thanks to the bland stone color. I’m pretty sure it was by design.
What l would like to call a “dick move” by the then leader Nicolae Ceausescu, the ultimate showoff to other tiny little dictators of the world. He got denied the chance to show it off as karma caught up with him and was executed before completion of this masterpiece. The palace of parliament tour was just over an hour long (abridged version thanks to a NATO conference), but it was very interesting and l recommend doing it.
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Palace of Parliament Bucharest Tour: (Ceausescu Palace)
We were lucky that Calin had booked the tour in advance for us as stated in the Bucharest Guide post, so once we paid the entrance fee, we had just a few minutes to wait before our tour started. You definitely have to book ahead so you get into the right group. There is a minimum number of people required, I think 9. Some of the other languages offered in addition to English were German, Italian and Romanian. Our guide, a plucky little woman who spoke rapidly was quite knowledgeable and moved along at a brisk pace.
History of Parliament House:
- Following an earthquake in Bucharest in 1977 which killed over 1400 people in the city and damaged 30,000 plus buildings, Ceausescu began a plan to rebuild the city and the centerpiece of the project was to be the Peoples House. Original plan had been to be a duplicate of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
- Work began in earnest in 1984 and the inauguration was attended by the dictator himself.
- Over 40,000 people were relocated from the area to build this gargantuan place. A hill named Uranus was leveled and about 35 factories and workshops were razed. Among other casualties on the construction were several monasteries, a hospital and the National Archives.
- According to the guide, about 100,000 people worked on the construction site and building was in shifts so work was being done 24/7. It is estimated that about 3,000 people lost their lives during the construction of the People’s House. I love the fact that it was peoples house, but they had no say in anything 🙁 . It was going to be his home.
- The building has 8 underground levels, including a bunker. There are about 1100 rooms with less than half being used currently.
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Bucharest parliament: Interior rooms
Palace of Parliament Facts:
- It is the second largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon.
- Almost entirely, the materials used in the building are all Romanian in origin
- The biggest chandelier in the palace is over 2 tons! Massive beauty it is too, one of the over 450 in the building.
- The most stunning collection of rugs l have ever seen, and the most insane sizes too. Over 2 million square feet in total. Machines were brought inside the building to weave some of the larger pieces. Truthfully, I think that was my favorite part of the tour, seeing the rugs as l love Persian rug designs. I used to go to rug auctions in L.A just to look and fantasize about owning some, and yes.. I purchased a few small pieces (most were eaten by moths in our storage unit 🙁 while my cousin and friend inherited the ones that survived).
- Ceausescu was a short man and ordered the steps to be built shorter than normal so he wouldn’t look diminutive coming down them..haha. It’s funny how a lot of dictators are often quite short, isn’t it?
- There are amazing works of art in the Peoples House
- Ceausescu cancelled an official visit to Nigeria because of the earthquake . I am relieved he never made it :-).
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For visitors who don’t have their very own C. the Romanian to guide them, we recommend doing a tour with GetYourGuide as we found them excellent on our tour of Auschwitz and would definitely use them again. The website to the palace of parliament is here if you insist on DIY. Make sure to inquire if there are events happening that might hamper your visit.
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I couldn’t help but remember when the revolution took place and Ceausescu, along with his wife Elena were captured and sentenced to death. I dug up the video recently to watch it again and l can see the joy of the people in the fact that the reign of terror was ending. I kept trying to figure out if the soldier in this video was crying at the hearing because he was relieved or because he sympathized with them. If you’re sensitive, don’t watch this because it shows them being shot. It felt surreal being at ground zero. Never in my life would l have pictured visiting a place of history such as this.
https://youtu.be/0BDRXGiYRsw
Nicolae Ceausescu never got to see the completion of the palace as he was executed on Christmas Day in 1989. He was the second and last communist leader of Romania. You can definitely still see the growing pains of the country, but they have come a long way and things can only continue to get better.
We are so far loving our discovery of Eastern European countries such as Budapest and Poland (Krakow specifically). Hopefully, we will get to some more of them this year.
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Bucharest Parliament Tour: Wrap up
The parliament palace tour is worth it and should be part of your Bucharest itinerary. The history is fascinating and shows you one of the examples of a mind of a mad, narcissist despot who cared nothing about the very people he was supposed to be serving.
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Have you been to Romania? If not, does the fascinating history entice you to visit?
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An amazing place indeed! I think that things would’ve looked even better if we were able to get the entire tour. But at the same time, that probably means sore muscles at the end 🙂 At least we got to the balcony for the nice view and climbed the stairs two at a time, like normal people. Haha, just joking with the last part – I’m still amazed at the amount of thinking that rulers do in order to fool the world and get things their way.
And the video… the whole thing happened during the Christmas days and I remember growing up watching that… they stopped showing it so often during the times of celebration, but it’s still there in my mind. And still hard to stomach. But history is history and it’s great to know everything about it in order not to repeat those mistakes…
So glad we went. We both really enjoyed it…and hahaha!! about the steps. I think the dictators do things like that and almost challenge you to dare say something.. LOL! They know they look ridiculous but are so egomaniacal that they think it’s okay 🙂 . The view from the balcony was simply breathtaking and imagine how he would have loved it had he lived to see it. I remember them showing that video almost nonstop when it happened in the U.S too. It was insane..but journalists love doing shite like that. Dog with a bone! I’m glad they are showing it less there too, but yeah..history is history.
The Palace of Parliament in Bucharest looks impressive (and gargantuan). But 3,000 dead and 40,000 relocated seems a high price to pay for this showcase.
Yeah. Definitely a high price to pay, but l’m sure in the minds of tiny tyrants like Nicolae, it was nothing. Lives meant nothing. 🙁
You gave us a stunning tour of the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest and in doing so moved that destination a bit higher on our ‘must see’ bucket list!
So glad to hear it. I know the darlings of Europe get all the love, but for how it was and is going to be, Bucharest is more authentic :-).
A very interesting read KemKem!
I’ve not yet been to Romania, but I certainly want to! I keep putting it on my “to-do” list, and then never quite making it out there, as somewhere else crops up! It would probably be “The Tall Young Gentleman” and I though, as “The Music Producer” doesn’t want to spend his holidays in an ex-communist country “too far East!” It was a stretch to get him to Croatia, but I don’t think he’ll go any further…!
Hey, it’s the Music Producer’s holiday too, so he has a choice on where to go, but l’m sure you too would love it :-). You know there are some places everybody harps about but l have no interest in.. Iceland for instance :-). Did he enjoy Croatia though? I know what you mean about the list. It keeps getting very, very long :-).
Oh certainly. He loved Croatia, and he regretted not coming with us to Slovenia… We’ll probably go to Norway together instead!
p.s. The Tall Young Gentleman and I are definitely going to Romania. He’s more adventurous, and a very good traveller. As long as there’s plenty of food to be had, and great wifi, he’s good. Mind you, he’s getting quite jaded and only wants to go to places that he’s never been to before, and keeps harping on about Japan. Ha! Ha! 😉
Japan! The kid is after my heart. We so enjoyed Tokyo and Kyoto, but really truthfully, I think the cost doesn’t justify a return trip for us no matter how good the flight tickets might be. Maybe after l win the lottery :-). Glad he loved Croatia, that is on our list but l doubt if we’ll get there this year. Glad the Tall Young Gentleman is taking after his mom and loves traveling :-).
I remember about Ceausescu being executed but never saw the video. Quite dramatic (and barbaric)
Huge building!.
You’re right, the video is dramatic. For me though, for how much he oppressed the people, I think l wouldn’t have settle for anything else if l had been Romanian. A life behind bars would not placate me and they were afraid his friends would still arrange an escape for them. No..he had to die. Humongous building :-).
A sobering video, Kemi but a just end to an evil barbarian. I always think of his orphanages which were total houses of horrors and almost get nauseaus when I think of how his regime mistreated infants and children. Your first photo of the palace shows a magnificent edifice so perhaps your sense of foreboding was in knowing that it was Ceausescu’s masterpiece and the fact that, much like his time of ruling, nothing stood in the way of him getting what he wanted. As to that short man question, it is true that a surprising number of nasty, brutish dictators are short. Interesting …. Anita
The short man complex is real is it not? 🙂 . I imagine they must all have been made fun of when young and it turned them into nasty little tyrants. Nope. Nothing stood in his way, imagine all those people dying during the construction. I mean..is it really that important? I can say for sure that l am glad he never got to enjoy the place. You hope vile men like him never rise to power, but it happens again and again 🙁 .