Articles (893)

Flămânda District in Bucharest, the neighborhood where the beggars from the Metropolitan Hill gathered

In old Bucharest, neighborhoods known as mahalale formed naturally around a church, a tavern, or a marketplace. They were small, self-contained worlds with their own rhythms, simple people, and customs that shaped the daily life of the city. In such a place emerged Flămânda, one of the oldest and most fascinating neighborhoods in the Romanian capit...

„No one shall pass here!” General Eremia Grigorescu, the hero of World War I, rests in the Mausoleum at Mărășești

Eremia Teofil Grigorescu was born on November 28, 1863, in the village of Golășei near Târgu Bujor (then part of Covurlui County, now Galați). He was the fourth child of Grigore Grigorescu, a schoolteacher, and Maria Grigorescu, following Dumitru, Constantin, and Sevastia. Despite the difficulties caused by the early death of his father, young Erem...

The history of the Ghencea neighborhood in Bucharest: the mahalaua, the Burnăzești boyars, Vladimirescu’s pandurs, and Ghenci-aga’s mercenaries

Ghencea, located in Sector 5 of Bucharest, is today one of the oldest and most historically rich neighborhoods of the capital. With a population of approximately 180,000 inhabitants, the area is divided into two main sectors: Old Ghencea, consisting mostly of apartment blocks built in the 1970s, and New Ghencea, currently under development along Gh...

Gheorghe Șincai National College, one of the oldest high schools in Bucharest, designed by Romania’s first female architect

Gheorghe Șincai National College is today one of Bucharest’s symbolic educational institutions, a place that breathes history and tradition, and also a living proof of the evolution of Romanian education over more than a century. Officially founded on December 8, 1892, the high school was established by royal decree, as a response to the increasing...

Famous boulevard names: Ferdinand I, the unifier king of Greater Romania

Ferdinand Victor Albert Meinrad of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was born on August 24, 1865, in Sigmaringen, into one of the oldest princely families in Europe. His father, Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, had been a pretender to the Spanish throne, and his mother, Infanta Antonia of Portugal, descended from the royal houses of Bragança and Saxe-Co...

The Palace of the National Archives of Romania: The History of the Most Imposing Building on Regina Elisabeta Boulevard

Standing majestically on Regina Elisabeta Boulevard in Bucharest, the Palace of the National Archives of Romania is one of the city’s monumental public buildings. After extensive consolidation and restoration, it now rivals its neighbor, the Bucharest City Hall Palace, in both elegance and grandeur. Both edifices are emblematic of the Neo-Romanian...

The Glucose Factory of Bucharest: From the Interwar Production of Alcohol and Glucose to Today’s Caro Hotel

In today’s Bucharest, as you cross Barbu Văcărescu Boulevard near the bridge over Lake Colentina, few would guess that this area hides a fascinating piece of industrial history. Today, it is home to the Caro Hotel complex, but more than a century ago, the same site hosted The Glucose Factory, a landmark of Romania’s early modern economy and industr...

The passions of the nearsighted teenager of Bucharest: Mircea Eliade rowed on the Danube, climbed mountains, and played oina in the neighborhood

Before becoming one of the world’s most important historians of religions, Mircea Eliade was a curious, energetic, and restless child, fascinated by movement, nature, and the street games of Bucharest. Born on March 9, 1907, on Mântuleasa Street, young Eliade discovered in the urban landscape a world full of charm and freedom. Early 20th-century Bu...

Famous boulevard names: Hristo Botev, the greatest poet and national hero of Bulgaria

The Bulgarian poet and revolutionary Hristo Botev was born on December 25, 1848, in the town of Kalofer, Bulgaria. His father, Botio Petkov, a man of vast culture and a graduate of a Russian seminary, was a teacher, writer, and social activist who fought for the liberation of the Bulgarian people from the domination of the Greek Church, an effort t...

The history of the famous Cinema Favorit, the “palace of film” in 1970s Bucharest

In the Bucharest of the 1970s, when going to the cinema was one of the most cherished forms of entertainment, a building rose in the Drumul Taberei neighborhood that would become, for entire generations, a place of joy, imagination, and emotion: Cinema Favorit. At a time when people gathered to watch films as if attending a celebration, Favorit was...