Articles (1840)

Symbols of Bucharest: Socec Bookstore, the temple of culture on Podul Mogoșoaiei, the interwar jewel of the Capital

During the interwar period, the perimeter around the intersection of Elisabeta Boulevard and Calea Victoriei was one of the most effervescent cultural centers of the Capital. Here operated a true constellation of bookstores, which transformed the area into a pole of ideas, debates, and intellectual meetings. In this space were located some of the m...

Vișoiu Restaurant, “The Bow-Legged Boulder” and the Forgotten Jewel of Last Century’s Bucharest

In interwar Bucharest, a cosmopolitan city, vibrant and constantly seeking refinement, restaurants represented more than simple places where one had a meal. They were meeting spaces for artists, diplomats, politicians, and for a bourgeoisie in full affirmation. In this atmosphere of the 1920s–1930s, less than 200 meters from the Arch of Triumph – c...

The Victor Babeș Museum in Bucharest, built by the son of the great bacteriologist out of love for the work of his illustrious father

In the northern part of Bucharest, in a quiet neighborhood with tree-lined streets and houses built in the eclectic style of the interwar period, there stands a building that houses one of the most valuable memorial collections dedicated to a Romanian scholar. It is the Victor Babeș Museum, located on Andrei Mureșanu Street, in Sector 1 of the Capi...

10 Forgotten Habits of Old Bucharest

If you have ever wondered why the central boulevards of the capital seem designed to be admired from a tall window, the answer lies in the social DNA of a city that, before becoming a hurried metropolis, functioned as an open-air theatre.Old Bucharest operated according to rules that today feel lifted from a manual of social choreography, where eve...

Aurel Vlaicu, the first pilot of the Romanian Army, inventor of the first Romanian airplane, has a street bearing his name in Bucharest

The history of aeronautics has placed Aurel Vlaicu (1881–1913) among the pioneers who dared to believe that man could conquer the sky through his own strength. Born on November 19, 1882, in the village of Binținți in Transylvania, a locality that today bears his name, he came from a large and modest family. He was the eldest of the eight children o...

Bucharest's Markets at the Start of Spring — What's Actually in Season and How Not to Get Fooled

March is an awkward month for market shopping. Winter is over, summer hasn't arrived, and the stalls are half-empty and half-filled with imported produce or vegetables grown in heated greenhouses. If you know what to look for, you'll find good things. If you don't, you'll pay serious money for tasteless tomatoes and green onions shipped in from Tur...

Famous houses in Bucharest: Cărturești Verona, the mansion of former Prime Minister Dimitrie A. Sturdza, founder of PNL, Cuza’s secretary

In the heart of Bucharest, on Pictor Arthur Verona Street 13-15, stands one of the city’s most impressive historic buildings, known today as Cărturești Verona. In the past, this was the residence of Dimitrie Alexandru Sturdza (1833–1914), a major politician, historian, economist, and member of the Romanian Academy. The house is an eloquent example...

News in Interwar Bucharest: How Love Stories Were Turned into Scandals and Evidence in Court

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Bucharest was undergoing rapid modernization, and the social life of the elites was becoming increasingly visible and widely discussed. In a city where cafés, theatres, and salons represented essential meeting spaces, privacy was fragile, and love stories rarely remained hidden. The daily press played a de...

Hotel Roma, Cinema Diana and the Ladies of the Boulevard. What Calea Griviței Looked Like in Interwar Bucharest

In interwar Bucharest, Calea Griviței was one of the most animated arteries of the city, especially in the section located near the North Railway Station. The area functioned primarily as a space of passage: travelers arriving from the provinces, merchants on their way to other cities, officials, and soldiers on assignment crossed this part of the...

How the Romanians betrayed Horea, Cloșca and Crișan, the leaders of the 1784 Revolt

At the end of December 1784, Horea and Cloșca, the two leaders of the peasant revolt in the Apuseni Mountains, were to be captured as a result of a betrayal by some Romanians. The exact date of the event was December 27, 1784. The Austrian authorities called on the help of peasants who knew well the labyrinth of the Gilău Mountains to capture the l...