Memorial of Rebirth (Memorialul Renașterii) is a monument on Revolution Square in Bucharest, which commemorates the victims of the Romanian Revolution of 1989.
The location of the monument, Revolution Square (Piața Revoluției) is where communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu used to give his speeches when it was still called Palace Square. In 1989 the square became the main place for protests and the revolution that overthrew the communist regime.
After the revolution, Palace Square was renamed Revolution Square and in 2005 the monument was inaugurated to commemorate the suffering of victims and honor the 1,500 lives that were lost during the revolution. The monument was designed by Alexandru Ghilduș and features a 25-meter-high white marble pillar with a black metal crown. The design of the monument has sparked some controversy, with some people calling it too abstract, or referring to it as a “potato on a stick”. However, in fact the pillar represents the Romanian people and the black metal piece symbolizes the communist period that the Romanian people managed to break through. In the front of the structure are two panels with the names of the people who died during the revolution.
The name Memorial of Rebirth is a reference to the rebirth of the nation and emphasizes the importance of the 1989 Revolution in the history of Romania.
