Everything about Palace Of The People Romania totally explained
The
Palace of the Parliament (
Romanian:
Palatul Parlamentului) is the home of the Romanian Parliament in
Bucharest,
Romania. It currently holds three records homologated by the
Guinness Book of World Records: for the largest civilian administrative building, the heaviest building and the most expensive administrative building in the world.
It was designed and almost finished by the
Ceauşescu regime as the seat of political and administrative power. Its initial official name was
House of the Republic (
Casa Republicii), given on June 25, 1984 by
Nicolae Ceauşescu, but it was best known as
People's House (
Casa Poporului), a name still used by many Romanians. After the
Romanian Revolution of 1989 the (comparatively) little work that remained to be done advanced slowly, so that some parts of the building are still unfinished. However, the building already hosts (among others) both chambers of the Romanian Parliament.
Description
The structure combines elements and
motifs from multiple
sources, in an eclectic neoclassical architectural style.
It measures 270 m by 240 m, 86 m high, and 92 m under ground. It has 1,100 rooms and is 12 stories tall, with four additional underground levels currently available and in use, with another four in different stages of completion.
The building is constructed entirely of materials of Romanian origin. Estimates of the materials used include one million cubic meters of
marble from
Transylvania, most from
Ruşchiţa; 3,500 tonnes of
crystal - 480 chandeliers, 1,409 ceiling lights and mirrors were manufactured; 700,000 tonnes of
steel and
bronze for monumental doors and windows,
chandeliers and
capitals; 900,000 m³ of wood (over 95% domestic) for
parquet and
wainscotting, including
walnut,
oak,
sweet cherry,
elm,
sycamore maple; 200,000 m² of
woolen
carpets of various dimensions (machines had to be moved inside the building to weave some of the larger carpets);
velvet and
brocade curtains adorned with
embroideries and
passementeries in
silver and
gold.
Constructing the Palace and Centrul Civic required
demolishing much of Bucharest's historic districts, including two neighborhoods with 19 Orthodox Christian churches, 6 synagogues and Jewish temples, 3 Protestant churches (plus eight relocated churches), and 30,000 homes.
Construction
Built on the site of a hill variously known as
Spirii Hill, Uranus Hill, or Arsenal Hill, which was largely razed for the project, the building anchors the west end of
Unirii Boulevard and
Centrul Civic. Construction began in 1983; the cornerstone was laid on June 25, 1984. The building was originally known mainly as the House of the People (Casa Poporului), and sometimes as House of the Republic (Casa Republicii), and was intended to serve as headquarters for all four major state institutions (similar to what the
Houses of Parliament operated like): Presedintia Republicii
(the Presidency of the Republic), Marea Adunare Nationalã
(The Great National Assembly, the parliament), Consiliul de Ministrii
(the Government) and Tribunalul Suprem
(The Supreme Court) ; this is why the bulding is of rectangular shape. The project was just nearing completion at the time of
Nicolae Ceauşescu's 1989 overthrow and execution. The building's structure and design was complete but many of the furnishings were never brought in. The last three basement levels and a large clock tower (that would have displayed the official Romanian time) were never finished. During the regime change, the new leaders of Romania referred to the building as the
House of Ceauşescu, using it as an example of the excessive luxury in which Ceauşescu would have been living, a stark contrast to the squalor and poverty endured by many people living in the surrounding neighbourhoods.
History since 1989
Since 1997, the building has housed
Romania's Chamber of Deputies, which had previously been housed in the
Palace of the Patriarchy; the
Romanian Senate joined them there in 2005, having previously been housed in the former Communist Party Central Committee building. The Palace also contains a massive array of miscellaneous conference halls, salons, etc., used for a wide variety of other purposes.
In 2002,
Costa Gavras shot scenes of
Amen. in the Palace to represent the Vatican palaces.
In 2003-2004 a glass annex was built, alongside external elevators. This was done to facilitate access to the
National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC) opened in 2004 inside the west wing of the Palace of the Parliament, and to the Museum and
Park of Totalitarianism and Socialist Realism, also opened in 2004.
The
cafeteria for use of the legislators has been refurbished.
Also in the building is the headquarters of the
Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI), an organization focused on regional cooperation among governments against cross-border crime.
Parts of the building (some of the west wing, some of the east wing, parts of the second floor, basement 3 and everything below) are yet to be completed. Currently, a new underground car-park is being built inside a former stadium, currently used as a warehouse, which was covered during the construction of the palace. Tunnels linking
13 Septembrie Avenue with the basement of the building will be built.
There are public tours organized in a number of languages.
In 2008, the Palace hosted the
20th NATO summit.
Picture gallery
Image:Palatul-parlamentului-SW-angle.jpg|Palace of the Parliament
Image:Palace of the Parliament.jpg|Night view of the Palace of the Parliament
Image:BucharestParliament2007 03 10c.JPG|Night view from the Union Boulevard
Image:PalaceParliament, Bucharest.jpg|Palace from Union Boulevard
Image:Palatul Parlamentului Saal.jpg|Inside the palace
Image:Palatul Parlamentului Deckenleuchter.jpg|Inside the palace
Image:Palace balcany Unirii view.jpg|View from the building towards the Union Boulevard
Image:Bucharest The Palace of the Parliament.jpg|The Palace of the Parliament from above
Image:Unirii Boulevard (1.May 1986).jpg|During the construction in 1986
Further Information
Get more info on 'Palace Of The People Romania'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://palace_of_the_parliament.totallyexplained.com">Palace of the Parliament Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
