Bucharest's Sector 4: 7 Things Most People Don't Know
A few kilometers from Piața Unirii, under the apartment blocks of Berceni and Olteniței, sit an abandoned railway station, a ruined power plant, and a nature reserve with otters and wild swans. Sector 4 isn't just heavy traffic on Șoseaua Olteniței or the endless construction site at Unirii. It has a railway, industrial, and natural history that most people driving through it every day have no idea exists.1. A delta in the middle of the concreteA few hundred meters from the Sun Plaza mall, between Calea Văcărești and Splaiul Dâmboviței, stretches Văcărești Nature Park, known informally as "Delta Văcărești" or "the delta between the blocks." The story behind it is unusual. In the 1980s, the Ceaușescu regime began building a dam and reservoir meant to protect southern Bucharest from flooding. The Revolution stopped the work halfway through. Water accumulated on its own behind the dikes, reeds and willows took over, and wildlife moved in without anyone planning it.Today the park covers ab... Read more
