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 The City of Joy

Bucur, meaning Joy, was the mythical shepherd who founded Bucharest before it began to be used by successive Wallachian princes to become the thriving capital it is today.

Called "Paris of the East" during it's Golden Age between the world wars, Bucharest today retains it's gems of architecture and spirit, as big as Houston and with the third largest transportation network in Europe. 

By European standards Bucharest is not an old city, its existence first being referred to by scholars as late as 1459. Since then it has gone through a variety of changes, becoming the state capital of Romania in 1862 and steadily consolidating its position as the centre of the Romanian mass media, culture and arts. Its eclectic architecture is a mix of historical, interbellum, Communist-era, and modern.

In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of the "Paris of the East" or "Little Paris" (Micul Paris). Although many buildings and districts in the historic centre were damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes and Nicolae Ceauşescu's program of systematization, much survived.

In recent years, the city has been experiencing an economic and cultural boom.

The city is administratively known as the Municipality of Bucharest (Municipiul Bucureşti), and has the same administrative level as a county, being further subdivided into six sectors.

The six sectors are numbered from one to six and are disposed radially so that each one has under its administration an area of the city center. They are numbered clockwise and are further divided into districts without any form of administration (cartiere):

Sector 1: Băneasa, Pipera, Floreasca
  Sector 2: Pantelimon, Colentina, Iancului, Muncii, Tei
  Sector 3: Vitan, Dudeşti, Titan, Centrul Civic
  Sector 4: Berceni, Olteniţei, Văcăreşti
  Sector 5: Rahova, Ferentari, Cotroceni
  Sector 6: Giuleşti, Drumul Taberei, Militari, Crângaşi

Like all other local councils in Romania, the Bucharest sectorial councils, the city's General Council and the mayors are elected every four years by the population.

Additionally, Bucharest has a prefect, who is appointed by Romania's central government. The prefect is not allowed to be a member of a political party. The prefect's role is to represent the national government at local level, acting as a liaison and facilitating the implementation of National Development Plans and governing programmes at local level. The current prefect of Bucharest (as of 2006) is Mioara Mantale.

The Municipality of Bucharest, along with the surrounding Ilfov county, forms the Bucharest development region, which is equivalent to NUTS-II regions in the European Union and is used by the European Union and the Romanian Government for statistical analysis and regional development. The Bucharest development region is not, however, an administrative entity.

From Mike Ormsby's new must-read book 'NEVER MIND THE BALKANS, HERE'S ROMANIA!', with a laconic English perspective on life in Romania and the Romanian people Read More Here

Cişmigiu Gardens

Every time I visit this place, I feel the same.  Maybe it's because of the elegant flower beds, the winding paths and the ambitious chatter of happy kids.  Or maybe it's the young lovers who paddle rowing boats, the skeletal old ladies who gossip on benches of battered wood, or the grim-faced men who huddle around stone tables playing chess.   

Whatever it is, every time I walk through Cişmigiu gardens in the centre of busy, booming Bucharest, I feel as if I'm wandering through a painting by a French impressionist.  And there is a connection after all.  Wasn't the city once known as Paris of the East? 

Crossing a bridge over the lake, I pause to wonder what Monet would have made of it, with his canvas and paint, some Sunday afternoon.  Kids dawdle about in their Sunday best nibbling pink clouds of candy floss.   Turbo-folk music belongs from a cafe terrace, where waiters and white shirts and black waistcoats glide on shiny shoes amongst the crowded tables, dispensing drinks and fixed smiles.  Most clients are smoking.  The happy chatter and innocuous silver wisps drift across the lake.  It looks like a modern-day version of Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party.   

Under a large tree near the zona de conifere there are couple of lovers kissing passionately.  The young woman sits on the man's knee.  At the edge of the boating lake, knots of people wait quietly on the debarcader -- the jetty -- for their turn.  Two tiny children are dressed in identical outfits – denim dungarees and a jelly shoes.  They gaze towards the centre of the lake, were a fountain spurts great arcs of water into the air, teasing them to hurry up and join the fun.  One of the kids spins around, hugging herself.  

I feel like an empty bench.  I take my seat and sits back to ponder the passage of time.  This park has a place in history.   It seems the name Cişmigiu is Turkish in origin.  It means the person responsible for building or maintaining a public fountain. 

And never mind the French Impressionists, Maxy, Romanian avant-garde artist from the 20s painted Şomeri pe o bancă în Cişmigiu: Unemployed on a bench in Cişmigiu.  It's an intriguing picture with a perilous perspective, a captivating blend of light and shade, action and inactivity, gossip and snoozing.  It's in the National Gallery at Cluj-Napoca.     

I stopped to buy a tiny handful of sunflower seeds from an old lady on a wooden stool.  They're still in their shells.  I don't know how to eat them the way some Romanians do.  I always make a mess.   As I passed through the gates to rejoin the real world of busy streets and halting traffic, I realise two things.  First, Cişmigiu is not really a Monet.  It's too neat, too precise for him.  No, this park is more like Seurat's Island of the Grande Jatte. 

-- from the tale "Sunday Best"

Justice system

Bucharest's judicial system is similar to that of the Romanian counties. Each of the six sectors has their own local tribunal, while appeals from these tribunals' verdicts, and more serious cases, are directed to the Bucharest Court of Appeals, the city's municipal court. Bucharest is also home to Romania's supreme court, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, as well as other national courts such as the Constitutional Court of Romania and the National Military Tribunal.

Bucharest has its own municipal police force, the Bucharest Police (Poliţia Bucureşti), which is responsible for policing of crime within the whole city, and operates a number of special divisions.

The Bucharest Police are headquartered on Ştefan cel Mare Blvd in the city centre, and has a number of precincts throughout the city. From 2004 onwards, each sector City Hall also has under its administration a Community Police force (Poliţia Comunitară), dealing with local community issues.

Bucharest also houses the General Inspectorate of the Gendarmerie and the General Inspectorate of the National Police.

 Crime

Bucharest's crime rate is rather low in comparison to other European capital cities, with the number of total offences declining by 51% between 2000 and 2004. In particular, levels of violent crime remain very low, with 24 murders and 1069 other violent offences taking place in 2004.

Although there have been a number of recent police crackdowns on organised crime gangs, such as the Cămătaru clan, organised crime generally has a reduced impact on public life. Petty crime, however, is more common, particularly in the form of pickpocketing, which occurs mainly on the city's public transport network.

Additionally, confidence tricks such as the Maradona scam are sometimes common, especially in regards to tourists, even though the frequency of these tricks has declined in recent years. Levels of crime are higher in the southern districts of the city, particularly in Ferentari, a socially-disadvantaged area mainly inhabited by people of Roma ethnicity.

Although the presence of street children was a problem in Bucharest in the 1990s, their numbers have declined significantly in recent years, currently lying at or below the average of major European capital cities. The same is true for beggars and homeless people, many of them from the disadvantaged Roma minority.

However, there are still an estimated 1,000 street children in the city, many of whom engage in petty crime and begging. There has also been speculation that the street children are recruited by professional underground networks for criminal purposes. From 2000 onwards, Bucharest has seen an increase in illegal road races which occur mainly at night in the city's outskirts or on industrial sites.

A significant problem in the city remains institutional corruption, which is seen as the most important justice-and-law related problem in the city. While corruption in Romania has declined in recent years due to various government efforts, Bucharest's level of institutional corruption remains somewhat higher than the Romanian average.

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Bucharest has a diverse and growing cultural scene, with cultural life exhibited in a number of various fields, including the visual arts, performing arts and nightlife. Unlike other parts of Romania, such as the Black Sea coast or Transylvania, Bucharest's cultural scene is much more eclectic, without a defined style, and instead incorporates various elements of Romanian and international culture.

Bucharest has a number of landmarks that are identified with it throughout the world. Perhaps the most prominent of these is the Palace of the Parliament, which was built in the 1980s during the reign of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu.

Currently the largest building in Europe and the third-largest in the world, the Palace houses the Romanian Parliament (the Chamber of Deputies and Senate), as well as the National Museum of Contemporary Art. It is also often used as a convention centre.

Another well-known landmark of Bucharest is the Arcul de Triumf (Triumphal Arch), which was built in 1935 and was modelled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. A newer landmark of the city is the Memorial of Rebirth, a stylised marble pillar unveiled in 2005 to commemorate the victims of the Romanian Revolution of 1989, which overthrew Communism.

The abstract monument sparked a great deal of controversy when it was unveiled, being dubbed with names such as "the toothpick and the olive," ("măslina-n scobitoare"), as many believed that it didn't symbolise the revolution well enough.

Aside from these landmarks, Bucharest also has a number of cultural venues, mentioned below, that are often considered icons of the city, such as the Romanian Athaeneum.

In terms of visual arts, the city contains a number of museums featuring both classical and contemporary Romanian art, as well as selected international works. The National Museum of Art of Romania is perhaps the best-known of Bucharest museums. It is located in the former royal palace and features extensive collections of medieval and modern Romanian art, including works by renowned sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi, as well as a prominent international collection assembled by the former Romanian royal family.

Other, smaller museums, contain more specialised collections of works. The Zambaccian Museum, which is situated in the former home of Armenian-Romanian art collector Krikor H. Zambaccian contains works by many well-known Romanian artists as well as international artists such as Paul Cézanne, Eugène Delacroix, Henri Matisse, Camille Pissarro and Pablo Picasso.

The Theodor Pallady Museum is situated in one of the oldest surviving merchant houses in Bucharest and includes many works by Romanian painter Theodor Pallady as well as a number of European and Oriental furniture pieces. The Museum of Art Collections contains the collections of a number of well-known Romanian art aficionados, including Krikor Zambaccian and Theodor Pallady.

Despite the extensive classical art galleries and museums in the city, there is also a contemporary arts scene that has become increasingly prominent in recent times. The National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), situated in a wing of the Palace of the Parliament, was opened in 2004 and contains a widespread collection of Romanian and international contemporary art, in a number of expressive forms.

The MNAC also manages the Kalinderu MediaLab, which caters specifically to multimedia and experimental art. There is also a range of smaller, private art galleries throughout the city centre.

From Mike Ormsby's new must-read book 'NEVER MIND THE BALKANS, HERE'S ROMANIA!', with a laconic English perspective on life in Romania and the Romanian people Read More Here

Dracula's Fountain

My taxi to Piaţa Unirii takes longer than usual because all the cars slow down to get a good look at the ornamental fountains. 

Instead of normal water, today the fountains are gushing water coloured blue, yellow, green, pink, turquoise, and red. 

The red one gushes in huge bloody arcs like Dracula is spinning of the brass taps of slaughter below ground.  

 

-- from the tale "Romania has Cancer"

 Performing arts

Performing arts are one of the strongest cultural elements of Bucharest, and the city has a number of world-renowned facilities and institutions.

The most prominent is the neoclassical Romanian Athenaeum, which was founded in 1852, hosts classical music concerts and is home to the "George Enescu" Philharmonic. Bucharest is also home to the Romanian National Opera, as well as the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre. Another well-known theatre in Bucharest is the State Jewish Theatre, which has gained increasing prominence in recent years due partly to the fact that it features plays starring world-renowned Romanian-Jewish actress Maia Morgenstern.

There is also a large number of smaller theatres throughout the city that cater to specific genres, such as the Comedy Theatre, the Nottara Theatre, the Odeon Theatre, and the Constantin Tănase Revue Theatre.

Bucharest is home to Romania's largest recording labels, and is often the residence of Romanian, and more recently Moldovan, musicians. The city's music scene is quite eclectic. Many Romanian rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s, such as Iris and Holograf, continue to be popular, particularly with the middle-aged, while since the 1990s there has been growth in the boy band and hip hop genres.

The eclectic pop-rock band Taxi have been gaining international respect, as has Spitalul de Urgenţă's raucous updating of traditional Romanian music. While many discos play manele, a Turkish-influenced type of music that is particularly popular in Bucharest's working class districts, the city has an increasing jazz and blues scene, and, to an extent, eurodance/trance and heavy metal/punk.

The city's nightlife, particularly its club scene grew significantly in the 1990s, and continues to increase. The city does not have a central nightlife strip, with many entertainment venues dispersed throughout the city centre. One of the city's best known clubs is the Lăptăria lui Enache, located above the National Theatre, as well as Fire Club and Club A.
 

Traditional culture

Bucharest's culture has, especially in the last 15 years, become more modern and wordly in comparison to other Romanian cities. Traditional Romanian culture, however, continues to have an influence in domains such as theatre and music.

Additionally, Bucharest has two internationally-renowned ethnographic museums, the Museum of the Romanian Peasant and the open-air Village Museum. The Village Museum, in Herăstrău Park, contains 272 authentic buildings and peasant farms from all over Romania.

The Museum of the Romanian Peasant was declared the European Museum of the Year in 1996, and displays a rich collection of textiles (especially costumes), icons, ceramics, and other artifacts of Romanian peasant life.

The Museum of Romanian History is another important museum in Bucharest, containing a collection of artefacts detailing Romanian history and culture from the prehistoric times, Dacian era, medieval times and the modern era.

There are a number of cultural festivals in Bucharest throughout the year, in various domains, even though most festivals take place in the summer months of June, July and August. The National Opera organises the International Opera Festival every year in May and June, which includes ensembles and orchestras from all over the world.

The Romanian Athaeneum Society hosts the George Enescu Classical Music Festival at various locations throughout the city in September every year. Additionally, the Museum of the Romanian Peasant and the Village Museum organise a number of events throughout the year showcasing Romanian folk arts and crafts.

In recent years, due to the growing prominence of the Chinese community in Bucharest, several Chinese cultural events have taken place. The first officially-organised Chinese festival was the Chinese New Year's Eve Festival of February 2005 which took place in Nichita Stănescu Park and was organised by the Bucharest City Hall.

In 2005, Bucharest was the first city in Southeastern Europe to host the international CowParade, which resulted in dozens of decorated cow sculptures being placed at various points across the city. Since 2005 Bucharest has its own contemporary art biennale, the Bucharest Biennale. The current (2006) issue (curated by Zsolt Pétranyi) will go on until the end of June, the next edition will be in 2008.

The 2000s also saw an increasing visibility of Bucharest gay culture, with the opening of the Queen's Club, the first LGBT club in the city, in 2001, and the launch of the annual Bucharest GayFest in 2004. The city's first gay pride parade was held as part of the 2005 GayFest, and continues today. 

Read more about Gays and Lesbians in Romania here

 The Architecture of Bucharest

Bucharest's architecture is highly eclectic due to the many influences on the city throughout its history.

The city centre is a mixture of medieval, classical and art deco buildings, utilitarian Communist-era architecture, as well as modern structures such as skyscrapers and office buildings that were mainly constructed after 2000.

The Alleyways of Lipşcani

Of the city's medieval architecture, most of what survived into modern times was destroyed by the Communists and replaced by high-rise apartment blocks. Still, some historical precincts remain, the most notable of which is the Lipscani area. This precinct contains buildings such as Manuc's Inn and the ruins of the Curtea Veche (the Old Court), and during the Middle Ages was the heart of Bucharest's commercial world.

From the 1970s onwards, the area went through urban decline, and many historical buildings fell into disrepair. In 2005, the Lipscani area was entirely pedestrianised and is currently undergoing restoration.

The Golden Age Gems

The city centre has also retained architecture from the late 19th century and early 20th century, particularly the interwar period, which is often seen as the "golden age" of Bucharest architecture. During this time, the city grew significantly in size and sought to emulate other large European capitals such as Paris.

Two notable buildings from this time are the Creţulescu Palace, currently housing cultural institutions including UNESCO's European Centre for Higher Education, and the Cotroceni Palace, the current residence of the Romanian President. Many large-scale constructions such as Gara de Nord, the main railway station, and the National Bank of Romania's headquarters, date from these times.

Restorations

In the 2000s, a wide variety of historic buildings in the city centre underwent restoration. In some residential areas of the city, particularly the high-income northern suburbs, there are many turn-of-the-century villas, most of which were restored after 2000.

 The Communist Legacy

A major part of Bucharest's architecture is made up of buildings constructed during the Communist era replacing the historical arhitecture with "more efficient" high density apartment blocks.

In Nicolae Ceauşescu's project of systematization many new buildings were built in previously-historical areas, which were razed and then built upon from scratch.

One of the best examples of this type of architecture is Centrul Civic, a development that replaced a major part of Bucharest's historic city centre with giant utilitarian buildings, mainly with marble or travertine façades, inspired by North Korean architecture. Communist-era architecture can also be found in Bucharest's residential districts, mainly in blocuri, which are high-density apartment blocks that house the majority of the city's population.

Since the fall of Communism in 1989, several Communist-era buildings have been refurbished, modernised and used for other purposes. Perhaps the best example of this is the conversion of several agro-alimentary complexes into shopping malls and commercial centres. These giant circular halls, which were most often known as hunger circuses due to the food shortages experienced in the 1980s, were constructed during the Ceauşescu era to act as produce markets and refectories, although most were left unfinished at the time of the Revolution.

 All Hail America

Modern shopping malls like Bucharest Mall, Plaza Romania and City Mall emerged on pre-existent structures of former hunger circuses.

Another example is the modernisation and conversion of a large utilitarian construction in Centrul Civic into a Marriott Hotel. This process was accelerated after 2000, when the city underwent a property boom, and many Communist-era buildings in the city centre became prime real estate due to their location.

For example, a tram depot built during the Communist times was converted into a new shopping mall, the Anador Commercial Centre, which opened in 2005.  In recent years, many Communist-era apartment blocks have also been refurbished to improve the city's urban appearance.

The newest contribution to Bucharest's architecture took place after the fall of Communism, and particularly after 2000, when the city went through a period of urban renewal – and architectural revitalisation – on the back of Romania's economic boom. Buildings from this time are mostly made out of glass and steel, and often have more than fifteen storeys.

Examples include shopping malls (particularly the Bucharest Mall, a conversion and extension of a "hunger circus"), office buildings, bank headquarters, the Bucharest World Trade Center and the Chamber of Commerce, which lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa.

As of 2005, there is a significant number of office buildings in construction, particularly in the northern and eastern parts of the city.

Additionally, there has been a trend in recent years to add modern wings and façades to historic buildings, the most prominent example of which is the Bucharest Architects' Association Building, which is a modern glass-and-steel construction built inside a historic stone façade.

Aside from buildings used for business and institutions, various new residential developments are currently underway, many of which consist of modern high-rise buildings with a glass exterior, surrounded by American-style residential communities. These developments are increasingly prominent in the northern suburbs of the city, which are less densely-populated and are home to middle- and upper-class Bucharesters due to the process of gentrification.
 

 Media

Bucharest is the most important centre for the Romanian mass media, since it is the headquarters of all the national television networks as well as national newspapers and radio stations.

The largest daily newspapers in Bucharest include Evenimentul Zilei, Jurnalul Naţional, Cotidianul, România Liberă, Adevărul, Gardianul and Gândul. During the rush hours, tabloid newspapers Libertatea and Ziarul are very popular for commuters.

A significant number of newspapers and media publications are based in Casa Presei Libere (The House of the Free Press) a landmark of northern Bucharest, originally named Casa Scânteii after the Communist-era official newspaper Scînteia.

Casa Presei Libere is not the only Bucharest landmark that grew out of the media and communications industry. Palatul Telefoanelor ("the telephone palace") was the first major modernist building on Calea Victoriei in the city's center, and the massive, unfinished communist-era Casa Radio looms over a park a block away from the Opera.

English-language media became available in Bucharest in the 1990s, and has become increasingly prominent since 2000. There are two daily English-language newspapers, Bucharest Daily News and Nine O' Clock, as well as numerous other magazines. A number of publications in other languages are also available, such as the Hungarian-language daily Új Magyar Szó.

Observator Cultural covers the city's arts, and the free weekly Şapte Seri ("Seven Evenings") and B24FUN lists entertainments of all sorts. The city is also home to the intellectual journal Dilema and the satire magazine Academia Caţavencu, as well as the usual array of commercial magazines one would find in any European capital.

Bucharest is the host city of the fourth edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006.

 Football

 Football ("fotbal" to Romanians and "soccer" to Americans, Australians, and Canadians) is the most widely-followed sport in Bucharest, with the city having various club teams that are known throughout Europe, the best of which is FC Dinamo Bucharest, signified by two fierce wolves, a reminder of the legend of the founding of Rome.

Romania's football has a proud history, starting about the same time as other European nation's top teams.  Sportul Studenţesc, was founded in 1916 during the Great War, and continue to play to this day at the Regie Stadium (Regie is the student district near the universities).  As the oldest team in Bucharest, the historic team now plays on tier down in the second league. 

Five football teams of Bucharest participate in Liga 1 (Premier League, previously known as A Division), wich is the top division in the Romanian football league: 

FC Dinamo, founded in 1948, at home in Dinamo Stadium

FC Rapid, founded in 1923 play at home in the Giuleşti Stadium.  Rapid, long the team associated with the railroads (an old locomotive is still ensconced at their stadium), made the quarter-finals in 2005-2006 season of UEFA Cup (the best performance in club's history

FC Naţional, founded in 1944 play at Cotroceni Stadium, just behind the Marriott hotel and Defense Intelligence complex. 

FC Steaua, founded in 1947 headquartered at the massive Ghencea Stadium.  Şteaua, meaning "the Star" was the surprise 1986 European Champion Clubs Cup winners and took the European Super Cup.
 

 Sport in Bucharest

As far as size goes, Lia Manoliu Stadium is the largest stadium in Romania. Also there are sport centers, like Dinamo Sports Park and the National Sports Center.

There are also a number of sport clubs for ice hockey, rugby union, basketball, handball, water polo and volleyball. Each of the major football clubs are actually part of larger sports organisations which sponsor, promote and profit from the other sports.  The majority of Romanian track and field athletes, boxers, and a great number of gymnasts are affiliated with clubs in Bucharest. The Athletics and many Gymnastics National Championships are held in Bucharest, one main reason being the city's extensive sporting infrastructure.

Every autumn, Bucharest hosts BCR Open Romania international tennis tournament, which is included in the ATP Tour. Also, the Romanian Davis Cup Team usually plays its matches in Bucharest, either outdoors at the BNR Arena or indoor at the Sala Polivalentă.

For the 2007 season, Bucharest will host a round of the FIA GT Championship at the new Bucharest Ring, on May 20.

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