Any of your trips to Bucharest shouldn’t miss the must-seen Palace Of The Parliament (People’s House) built by Ceausescu
In a few hours, on a Bucharest City Tour that includes the Palace of Parliament, you will learn how dangerous and damaging it can be for a nation to let a totalitarian regime like communism to take over. In front of one of the biggest constructions in the world, you will feel small seeing what pointless opulence and megalomania “the sleep of reason” can create.
Imagine you are trying to take a selfie in front of the building – it will prove quite difficult, because you are essentially trying to capture the second largest administrative building on the planet, after the Pentagon. It is also considered the heaviest building in the world.
You are most likely not going to be able to get too close to the Pentagon, due to the distance and restrictions. However, the People’s House built by Ceausescu is one of the Top 10 Must-See Places in Bucharest, whether you are on a one-day tour, a two-day tour or on any other kind of trip to Romania.
Every day, at the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, you can encounter great actors, international figures, celebrities and athletes who never miss this kind of tourist attraction when they come to Romania, either for work or on vacation.
Catherine Lalumiere, General Secretary of the European Council, once said that the People’s House is „a megalomaniac palace, but also a Romanian masterpiece”, while the famous actor Steven Seagal was so taken with it that he later returned to Romania with his family.
The impressive construction has many more surprises in store, one of them being the grand crystal chandelier in the entrance hall, which weighs a “mere” 3 tons, along with the 4-meter tall solid oak door.
You will also find out about the ghosts that roam the halls at night, ripping sigils or triggering the security systems, providing you with plenty of stories to share with your friends.
And since a picture is worth a thousand words, we recommend opting for a standard tour of the Palace of Parliament, which includes a visit to the basement and the terrace, where you can enjoy a panoramic view of Bucharest. An interesting piece of information: Ceausescu had planned to redesign the city of Bucharest after the model of Phenian, a city in North Korea.
Visiting the People’s House/Palace of Parliament will leave you with so much more than beautiful memories or the image of a unique piece of architecture. It is a spiritual and cultural experience, whereby you get in touch with an important part of Romanian and world history, and you come to a better understanding of the last few decades in the history of Eastern Europe.
In the words of A. N. Stern: “The dialogue between client and architect is about as intimate as any conversation you can have, because when you’re talking about building a house, you’re talking about dreams.” The People’s House in Bucharest was a dream of a golden age, which is a story worth passing down to your grandchildren.
The visit will take approximately 1 hour.
