Articles (893)

Where Bucharest residents went on December 1st in the ’90s and where they go now: the evolution of winter urban habits

Over the past three decades, December 1st has shifted from a simple date on the calendar to a marker that shapes how Bucharest experiences the start of winter. The way residents spend this day reflects the city’s own evolution: its infrastructure, its access to leisure, and the way public space has been reorganized after 1989. In the ’90s, everythi...

How the State Jewish Theatre Was Born, the Only Theatre of a Minority in Romania

The story of the State Jewish Theatre is deeply connected to the cultural evolution of the Jewish community in Romania and represents one of the longest and most stable theatrical traditions of a minority in Europe. This history begins in the year 1876, in a moment when the cultural life of the city of Iași was in full effervescence. On August 19,...

Oprea Soare House, history with tradition. Today it hosts Hanul Berarilor, one of the most famous restaurants of the Capital

Oprea Soare House is one of those buildings that seem to concentrate within their walls the entire spirit of an era. Built at the beginning of the 20th century, in the Neo-Romanian style, it perfectly represents the direction in which Bucharest was heading in those years: a combination of tradition, urban ambition and modernity. Located in the imme...

The history of the grand Marmorosch Bucharest Hotel, the palace that once housed the most influential bank of 19th-century Romania

In the heart of Bucharest’s old town, on Doamnei Street, stands today the Marmorosch Bucharest Hotel, an elegant space that preserves an impressive history within its walls. The building that hosts this five-star hotel was not always a place dedicated to hospitality, but the headquarters of one of the most influential financial institutions of Roma...

Before Little Paris, There Was Little Constantinople. How the Phanariote Era Shaped Bucharest in the 18th–19th Centuries

The Phanariote period, which unfolded from the first half of the 18th century until the early 19th century, is often viewed through the lens of intrigue, corruption, and heavy Ottoman influence. However, beyond this simplified image, the Phanariote era represented a crucial stage in Bucharest’s evolution. Phanariote Bucharest and the transformation...

The House with Sphinx, the Forgotten History of Bucharest Residents. How the Shoemaker’s Home Became a Masonic Lodge and an Extravagant Café

In the center of Bucharest, at the corner of Colței and Slănic streets, rises one of the most remarkable buildings of the capital: the House with Sphinx. This emblematic construction, completed in 1928, impresses through its imposing dome, crowned by a unique sculptural ensemble, created by the famous sculptor Dimitrie Paciurea. Over the decades, t...

The story of the famous Club A, the longest-lasting student club in Romania. The dream of the future architects, “extinguished” shortly after Colectiv

Club A, born in the heart of Bucharest in the year 1969, was never only a venue for entertainment, but a true enclave of freedom in a period in which freedom was almost impossible. Hidden in the basement of a Mediterranean-style building on Lipscani Street, the club quickly became a refuge for young intellectuals, for future architects, for artists...

The history of the Macca-Vilacrosse passage, a true time capsule in the center of Bucharest

The Macca-Vilacrosse Passage is today one of the most picturesque places of old Bucharest, a space that preserves intact the cosmopolitan air from more than a century ago. Its horseshoe shape, elegantly arched, together with the dome of yellowish glass that filters the light in a warm and diffuse way, creates a unique atmosphere in the city. But lo...

Where Bucharest used to end. The Vergului Barrier, from boyar Vartolomei to today’s Ferdinand Boulevard

In an era when cities took shape gradually, and their boundaries were more real than symbolic, Bucharest was marked by a series of barriers that defined the limits of the city and controlled the movement of people and goods. The Vergului Barrier, located in the eastern part of the city, in the area of today’s Hurmuzachi Square, represents an emblem...

The brightest mind in Romania’s history, treacherously killed by the Legionaries 85 years ago. Nicolae Iorga – the man, the historian, the legend

Nicolae Iorga was born on June 5, 1871, in Botoșani, into a cultivated and close-knit family: his father, lawyer Nicu Iorga, and his mother, Zulnia, both considered by many researchers to have Aromanian roots, provided him with an environment ideally suited for exceptional intellectual development. The fragile but inquisitive child quickly became o...