I like to take the free walking tour whenever I visit a European city. It combines two things I like: (1) an overview and understanding of the history and architecture of the city I am visiting, and (2) it's free.
But, first, a walk to the walk.
This is Statuia Lupoaicei. Two babies suckling on a wolf mama. This seems like a reference to the legend of Romolus and Remus and the founding of Rome. Maybe it is. Maybe Bucharest has its own variation on the theme. It's not like Rome has a copyright on the story. And even if they did, the intellectual property rights would have expired back when Romania was called Dacia.
Selfie! The only one on today's tour.
The tour was to meet at the clock at Piata Unirii. Piata = Plaza. Unirii = I don't know what. Anyway this is the clock.
Some workers were working on the fountain at Piata Unirii. Lots of construction -- or more like lots or repair -- going on in Bucharest. If you wanted a phrase to sum up Bucharest it would be "decaying beauty," like a lot of old Caribbean and Latin cities.
The infamous "Palace of Parliament" is visible in the center background shot here. It is the second largest office building in the world, after the Pentagon. It was built by Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. He destroyed dozens of blocks of historic architecture that made Bucharest "The Paris of the East." Yes, they called it that. I'm not making that up. Paris. Of the East.
More Nicolae Ceaușescu urban renewal. The church sandwiched in between the ugliness was moved -- on rails -- a technique invented in Romania and now used elsewhere -- when Ceaușescu declared an ugly Soviet style apartment building must go right there. And so it did. Le Corbusier, the Swiss-French architect who was the intellectual force behind the urban renewal binge that destroyed many historic and beautiful cities in the United States and Europe in the 20th Century, would be so proud.
But Ceaușescu did not get this church. The aforementioned Biserica Sfântul Anton.
The building below is now a Romanian cuisine restaurant, Hanu' lui Manuc
.
It's the site of where Moldava was cut from Romania and given by the Ottomans to Mother Russia.
I don't know if you can still reserve that table, in case you're ever in the mood to cleave Moldava from Romania.
Catblogging:
See the cat leap from the outdoor prayer wall. I don't think it's a metaphor.
Yet another beautiful church. And, below, yet another street cat:
There are a lot of street cats in Bucharest. They must not have any coyotes.
Another view of another Orthodox church. Don't ask me to name them all. The ones I've correctly named so far are accurate. I believe. But it you press me to name more, then I'll make names up.
Now here's a picture that tells a story. It tells the story with the big red dot:
The big red dot means the building is in severe danger of collapse in the event of an earthquake. Bucharest is earthquake country. Why the red dot? Why not just condemn it and tear it down? You can live in a building with one of these "unsafe in the event of earthquake" buildings, but you cannot operate a commercial enterprise within it! Priorities! Apparently, according to the tour guide, these are popular Airbnb rentals.
The church above? I don't know its name. The church below? Biserica Mănăstirii Stavropoleos.
Yes. Really.
Here is our tour guide explaining that, even though the architecture looks Moorish (at least to my amateur eye), it's actually traditional Romanian. Probably Moorish that entered Romania through the Ottomans.
Or maybe it's just plain Arabesque directly from the Ottomans. Beautiful interior that my little camera cannot capture all that well.
Dome.
It is Ottoman after all. Or traditional Romanian.
This is a Russian Orthodox church. All the other churches thus far have been Romanian Orthodox.
Orthodox Christianity is much more decentralized than Roman Catholicism. Which you would think would appeal to small government conservative me. But, no, I like my big huge "one size fits all" bureaucratic Christianity ruling over the Christian globe from the Roman Vatican.
The statue above is Michael, who first united Romania minutes before the Ottoman conquest. Oh and we learned that Vlad the Impaler (a.k.a. Dracula) did not impale his victims (almost always Ottomans) through the chest. Think lower. Think lower to a place you don't want to think about. Yup. Impaled them there then planted the stick upright and let gravity do the Turk killing. I don't have pictures of that.
But this is where the walking tour ended. Piata Universitatii. Where the Romanian revolution of 1989 began. The only overthrow of an Eastern European communist dictatorship that resulted in the death of the communist dictator, who, in this case, was Ceaușescu.
