The National Park of Bucharest (Parcul Național din București) is an urban park with an artificial lake in eastern Bucharest.
The park is located in an area that was once a swampy forest called the Vergului Barrier before the city developed in eastern direction. The park was inaugurated in the summer of 1953 as the August 23rd Park (Parcul 23 August), but its name was changed to National Park after 1989.
The park has a total area of about 40 hectares but a large part of this has been developed into the Lia Manoliu National Sports Complex (Complexul Sportiv Naţional Lia Manoliu). The sports complex includes an athletics track and other athletics facilities, an indoor sports hall, a professional swimming pool, an ice rank, a skydiving tower, tennis courts, football pitches, and a fitness center amongs others.
The National Arena, the largest football stadium in the country, and the Romanian Football Association are also located on the premises, on the eastern side. At the western end of the park there is the Mihai Eminescu Amphitheater, an open-air theater which hosts cultural performances and concerts in the summer.
The park itself is laid around an artificial lake where you can rent leasure boats and there’s a restaurant on the waterside. In the park there’s also a children’s playground, a football field, a tennis court, outdoor fitness equipment, and there are ping-pong tables, kiosks, and public toilets.
