I wish I could go back a hundred years to the time when this part of the city I live in was built. Here is one of my favorite places, Revolution Square in Bucharest. The most recent naming of this square was given after the Romanian Revolution of December 89, when communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was leaving the building of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party. He was actually running away aboard a helicopter. His escape meant the fall of communism in Romania and the establishment of a democratic republic.
History has been turbulent with this place, which has had many names. From this succession of names, one can deduce the political changes: Palace Square, Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej Square (the first communist leader of Romania), Republic Square, and now Revolution Square.
I've got all these names except Palace Square. That's why I would have liked to go back in time, to the time when this square defined its appearance, became Palace Square, and was the most important square in the country.
Of course, at that time, photography was in its infancy and could only be monochrome, black and white, and that is why I want to show some important buildings bordering the square. In black and white, as they might have looked in photographs a century ago.
First of all the Royal Palace, the residence of the kings of Romania. There weren't many: Charles I, Ferdinand, Charles II, Michael.
The first version of this palace was built in 1812. It was destroyed by fire in 1926 and rebuilt in 1937. It now houses the Romanian Museum of Art.
Just opposite the palace is the building of the former "Charles I University Foundation", built-in 1895.
In 1948 it became the "Charles I" Central University Library.
King Charles I is recognized as the most important king of the Romanians. He contributed decisively to the modernization of the country. He won, through struggle, the independence of Romania from the Ottoman Empire. It is normal that his statue is in this square, in front of the library and facing the Royal Palace.
The oldest building in the square is a church. Cretulescu Church. Built-in 1720.
This building has a special history. Intended to be built around 1912, construction actually started in 1939 but was interrupted by the war and was therefore completed in 1950. It is the Palace of the Ministry of the Interior.
It was used by the Ministry of the Interior until 1958 when it became the headquarters of the Communist Party.
This building was attacked and occupied by revolutionaries during the revolution of 1989 when they almost captured the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who fled at the last minute by helicopter. The victory of the Revolution and the establishment of a new, democratic power were announced from the balcony of this building. For this, the square was named Revolution Square.
This building now houses three ministries, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Labour, and the Ministry of Health.
The last important building in the square is the Roman Athenaeum. A very beautiful concert hall. Beautiful inside and outside. It was built by public subscription, money was donated by the inhabitants of the city.
With the help of these black and white photographs and with the help of my imagination I moved for a short time to Bucharest at the beginning of the twentieth century.
