I live in a very crowded city. Not so crowded with people as with cars. A town that 500 years ago was just a village. Its development has meant and resembled a growing village. In medieval times.
The city I'm talking about now is called Bucharest, it's in the southeast of Romania and it's the capital of this country.
The eighteenth century also meant the modernization of this city. A very important role was played by Carol I, the first king of Romania.
Carol I of Romania, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, full name Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, (b. 20 April 1839, Sigmaringen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany - d. 10 October 1914, Sinaia, Prahova, Romania) was the ruler, then King of Romania, who ruled the Romanian Principalities and then Romania.
During his 48-year reign (the longest in the history of the Romanian states), Carol I achieved the country's independence, which also brought him immense prestige, revived the economy, endowed Romania with a number of institutions specific to the modern state, and laid the foundations of a dynasty. Source
So, with the reign of Carol, began the modernization of Bucharest. The problem was and still is that, as a city developed from a village, it has no wide streets. Most of the streets are narrow. A hundred years ago it was not a problem. A few cobblestones and then cars easily circulated on them.
But now it's a big problem. Huge numbers of cars have nowhere to go, nowhere to park.
In 2023 Bucharest is ranked the eighth most crowded city in the world. Fourth place in Europe!
For a population of 1.8 million, there are 1.4 million registered cars. Not counting cars in transit.
In these conditions, it is very hard to see empty streets. Empty streets have become one of my passions. Such a passion seems strange, it somehow points to pathology and mental problems, but I hope that what I have said so far can explain this.
There is a time when the city streets are almost deserted.
Early Sunday morning!
Every Sunday morning I walk on the most beautiful boulevard in Bucharest. It's Victory Avenue. It is a relatively narrow street, for the reasons explained at the beginning.
Nothing relaxes me more than this walk. I thought it might be of interest to have an illustrated account of this route.
Victory Avenue starts from Victory Square, an important place in the city, where the seat of the Government and the place of most protests and demonstrations is located.
My walk started a few hundred meters away from Victory Square.
Looking back at the square...
... looking forward to the destination. On the right, is the headquarters of the Romanian Academy.
Looking back, the Academy is on the left. The building, like most of the buildings on this avenue, is over a hundred years old. But it's not the building that impresses me. The garden impresses me. A huge garden in a place where land is very expensive and there is no more room for large buildings.
I like this boulevard because most of the buildings are from the turn of the last century and a walk like this makes me imagine I am a resident of the city from more than a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, many buildings have been bought up by various speculators who want to sell them for a big profit... and because they can't make that profit yet, they let the houses fall into disrepair.
This building, a former palace, is now a museum. Museum of Collections. It houses the collections of several collectors who have donated them to the state.
It starts with small terraces, actually, tables and chairs where you can have a coffee, a cake or ice cream and even breakfast. Empty like the street.
Empty street
Victory Avenue connects two of the city's most important squares. Victory Square and Revolution Square.
Revolution Square
Considered a city center, Revolution Square! As the name suggests, this square is related to the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Here is the former headquarters of the Romanian communist party, the place from where the former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu fled, later caught and executed. That's recent history, but there are much more important buildings here, of great significance for the history of the Romanian people.
Royal Palace
Romanian Athenaeum
Hilton Hotel
The Equestrian Statue of Carol I
Former headquarters of the Romanian Communist Party, now the Ministry of Interior. In front is a statue group commemorating political prisoners who died in communist prisons.
Last but not least, a church about 4oo years old. Cretzulescu Church. Next to the church, you can see a building that was the communist security headquarters.
Palace of Telephones
The walk continues on the empty streets and this fills me with joy and pleasure. This little section will end at the telephone palace, another famous building of the city. The first building in Romania was built in the 1920s according to the American technology of the skyscraper.
The phone palace is starting to show. The white building on the right, with the antenna on the roof.
The second remarkable building also appears. A new hotel, the Novotel.
Ever closer...
The telephone palace was built by the Americans. It was intended to be the first skyscraper in the country, but the building materials ran out and it remained a very small skyscraper...haha.
Just kidding.
Bucharest is in a very dangerous seismic zone and very tall buildings could not be built.
The Novotel Hotel is one of the few newly built buildings on this boulevard. On the site where the hotel now stands was the National Theatre, which was accidentally bombed by the Allied Air Force during World War II. For this reason, the facade of the theatre is reconstructed in front of the hotel.
I think I'll stop here with these empty streets. I'm afraid I may bore readers with so many buildings. There are still a lot of photos from this walk and I will write a further one in a few days.
I have become lazy and comfortable. I found it much easier to shoot with the smartphone and I let the camera rest at home.
I took a selfie with a reflection. Be understanding of the tired picture of us (i.e. my wife and I), we are old, we are 143 years old (together)!
I had no idea that Bucharest was built on a seismic zone. Where there any earthquakes recently? I mean in the last hundred or so years..
I've been to Bucharest a couple of times and I remember that there were indeed way too many cars. I think it's a problem in many old cities where there are more and more cars and no places to park. It's a nightmare to live in the old towns when you own a car 😊
Great post!
It is an active area, with the epicenter in the Carpathian Mountains, in Vrancea (region). 150 km away from Bucharest. Earthquakes greater than 7 Richter occur with a regularity of 50 years, with plus or minus variations, of course. The most recent earthquake was on 4 March 1977. There were 2000 deaths.
The previous one was in the 1940s. Unfortunately, it's getting close to the time for the next one and we're not feeling well at all. I remember with horror the earthquake of 77, I lived on the 5th floor. The block moved for almost a minute. As you might suspect, the block held and didn't collapse.
I know you were in Bucharest, I think you mentioned you went with the job.
In a former communist country, when cars were just a dream, after the transition to a democratic society, everyone wanted cars. We couldn't afford new cars so we bought everything from the West, used. That's how we got this huge number of cars.
Thank you, dear @delishtreats. Great to see you again!
Hello lazybones, through the glass.... 👋
I finally found a chance to catch up and I find many interesting facts here about your city. It is beautiful even if its streets are narrow. How much architectural beauty! 😍
Already about the earthquakes you mentioned it in a post some time ago, but I didn't know about the bombing of the National Theater by mistake. And well, cities get tired, Sundays were made to sleep a little longer in the morning. funny that, ha! You know when I saw the cyclists I said to myself: that's how I would ride in Bucharest.
Lazybones, da. I like everything that starts with lazy, from Deep Purple onwards.
You help me think I've managed to say more about the city this time... that's kind of what I want to do. I'm writing about myself, like we all do here (I mean everyone writes about themselves...) but I want more of what's beyond me to be seen. I try to write about a place and an atmosphere and I don't want to hide that I show more of the beautiful and interesting parts, if I can.
Biking is a new trend in the city, it was introduced later as a kind of obligation from the European Union. Many young people use bikes. I have also missed this train, I mean I am not interested in it anymore. I prefer walking but there are many old people like me who run around on bikes.
I'm sure you'd do very well in this landscape, on your bike.
Thank you!
I imagine there will be more harmony and consideration there for cyclists to enjoy the ride.
Here there are no cycle lanes.
Thank you for your very detailed and interesting posts. 😉
My pleasure and thanks for reading.
Bikes and bikers are likely to be increasingly considered as an alternative to traffic congestion. I already have several friends who bike across town on their way to work.
A sample of a practically deserted city, and I liked them very much. If I have to choose one, this is my favourite, as it looks like a house with a very special magic. I love it!
You chose well. Many such houses are no longer inhabited.
Woww I want it for myself! It's beautiful!
It is not inhabited but it is expensive. we have to be satisfied with looking.
According to .... I'll only look at it because of your picture...
The same problem in Istanbul and I think as well as in many cities, as though cities are not be able to bear this much crowdedness anymore.
It certainly is.
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In winter, it happens that the trees lose their leaves and in the same way their wood comes out from below and they are very beautiful.