The Palace of the Parliament (Palatul Parlamentului) is the seat of the Parliament of Romania and the biggest and most eye-catching landmark of Bucharest. The building is 84 meters high, and has a floor area of 365,000 m2 and a volume of 2,550,000 m2, making it the heaviest building in the world with a weight of 4,098,500,000 kilograms. The enormous structure is also the second largest administrative building in the world, after the Pentagon.
The building currently houses both chambers of the Parliament of Romania: the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Inside the gigantic building are also an international conference center and three museums: the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Communist Totalitarianism, and the Museum of the Palace.
History Of The Palace Of The Parliament
The building of the palace was part of Project Bucharest, a plan of former president Nicolae Ceaușescu to reconstruct the city after an earthquake in 1977. Instead of rebuilding Bucharest in the way it was before the earthquare, he got inspired by the developments of Pyongyang in North-Korea to implement his systemization program of urban planning. The communist leader wanted to turn Romania into a “multilaterally developped socialist society”. The palace itself was meant to be the seat of the president and symbolize the triumph of communism in Romania.
So the plans for the Palace of the Parliament were developed during the communist era. The building, which was designed by architect Anca Petrescu, took 13 years to complete, between 1984-1997, so it was finished years after the communist regime of Ceaușescu fell in 1989. Originally the building was called the House of the Republic, but later its name was changed, and people also commonly refer to it as the People’s House.
The building has 12 stories and 8 underground levels, including an underground atomic bunker that is linked to other government buildings via an extensive network of tunnels. Being a bit paranoid, Nicolae Ceaușescu feared a nuclear war and wanted to protect the country’s souvereignity in case of an attack.
The Palace of the Parliament looks out on Constitution Square and Union Boulevard, the longest and widest boulevard in the capital, which was also created as part of Ceaușescu’s urban redevelopment project. The Izvor Park to the north of the palace used to be part of the hill, but this part was flattened to create a large conference and reception hall. When the communist regime fell, the plans were never materialized and instead the park was created.
Visiting The Palace Of The Parliament
You can visit the Palace of the Parliament, which is really a unique experience, but tickets are limited and subject to availability. You can make a reservation up to 24 hours before your visit by calling +40 733 558 102 or +40 733 558 103. You can also buy your tickets in person at the ticket office inside the Exhibition Hall “Constantin Brâncuși”, Izvor Street, no. 2-4 on the day of your visit, but it’s recommended to go there early in the morning before they sell out. Another thing to bear in mind is that you need to show your ID or passport (no driver’s license or other form of identity accepted) in order to get in. You can find more info about visiting the parliament on the official website.
