In the history of Romanian cinema, there are characters who have become inseparable from the actors who played them. Chiriac, Jupân Dumitrache’s trusted man and Veta’s secret lover from “A Stormy Night,” is one of these characters. In the film made by Jean Georgescu and released in 1943, George Deme... Read more
At the main entrance to Carol I Park, in what is now Liberty Square, stands one of the Bucharest landmarks that has become a defining feature of the city: the Zodiac Fountain. Its circular silhouette, dominated by a monumental stone bowl, is easily recognizable, while the 12 zodiac signs rendered in... Read more
Dumitru Georgescu Kiriac holds a distinctive place in the history of Romanian music at the turn of the 20th century. Composer, conductor, professor and folklorist, he belonged to a generation of musicians determined to give Romanian music a distinctive voice rather than simply reproduce Western mode... Read more
In Bucharest, there are streets that bear the names of people known by almost everyone and streets dedicated to personalities whose contribution to the development of Romania has remained, over time, mainly in the memory of specialists. Ermil Pangrati Street, in the northern part of the capital, bel... Read more
In 1996, Bucharest needed new spaces where artists, the public, and the city could meet. At a time when the capital was searching for its cultural identity after the profound changes of the 1990s, ARCUB – the Cultural Center of the Municipality of Bucharest was established. Three decades later, the... Read more
Look closely at the façades of Bucharest’s old houses and you may occasionally spot a small metal plaque, darkened by age and almost swallowed by layers of paint and plaster. A few faded letters may still be visible: “Naționala – Bucuresci.” Today, such a plaque can easily be mistaken for a forgotte... Read more
Bucharest has streets named after rulers, writers, artists, scientists and politicians whose names are immediately recognizable. But there are also names that have remained part of the city’s memory even though passers-by know almost nothing about the people who carried them. One such case is Ion Sl... Read more
What would it be like to step into I.L. Caragiale’s Bucharest for a few hours, drink a cup of black coffee at Capșa and listen to stories about the world that gave birth to some of the best-known characters in Romanian literature? This is precisely the atmosphere that the “Words, Coffee, Capșa and C... Read more
Imagine Calea Victoriei on an afternoon at the beginning of the 1900s. Carriages move among pedestrians, the shop windows of the great stores attract attention, while in front of cafés and confectioneries people dressed according to the latest fashions from Paris and Vienna meet. Gentlemen wear impe... Read more
Armand Călinescu was one of the most powerful and controversial political figures of interwar Romania. Nicknamed “the man of steel” because of the determination with which he acted against the political opponents of the state, he remained in history above all as one of the most determined adversarie... Read more