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Subway
After an earthquake in 1977 a new phase of urban development began – a start for a new subway.
Subway
The earthquake hit the city on March 04 1977 and caused more than 1.500 casualties.
Change
After the earthquake Nicolae Ceausescu transformed large parts of the historic building fabric into his vision of the center of his power.
Historic buildings
Lots of the historic buildings remain but would need substantial renovation.
Revitalized
Economic growth led to improved infrastructure, modern residential homes, fancy shopping malls and state-of-the-art office buildings.
Capital
Around 2.2 Million people live in the city and its agglomeration which makes it the sixth biggest city within the European Union.
Art Scene
Bucharest has a constantly growing art scene. With no defined style it combines Romanian and international elements.
Recruits
It is believed that the much feared intelligence service Securitate is responsible for the death of approximately 200,000 people. Even kids where recruited from orphanage to become agents.
Total Control
Planned and built by the Securitate Bucharest was undermined with a sophisticated tunnel system in order to control and to eliminate the opposition.
Arcul de Triumf
In its current form the triumphal arch was inaugurated in September 1936. In 1878 the first triumphal arch was hurriedly built from wood to celebrate that Romania gained its independence.
Project Bucharest
After an earthquake in 1977 Nicolae Ceausescu started a reconstruction plan called Project Bucharest – with the People’s House as the centre of this gigantic project. After a single day's notice approximately 40.000 people where relocated and construction began in June 1984.
Construction
To construct the second largest administrative building in the world (after the Pentagon in the USA) between 20,000 and 100,000 people worked on the construction site. Some figures say that approximately 3,000 people lost their lives during the construction of the People’s House.
Massive
The building has a developed area of 365,000 m². In terms of weight the Palace of the Parliament is the heaviest building in the world – weighing around 4,098,500,000 kg. Due to its weight it sinks by 6 mm each year.
Room
The building has got 1,100 rooms – out of which only 400 rooms and two meeting rooms are finished. There are 8 underground levels linked to the main state institutions by 20 km of tunnels – including a nuclear bunker with 1.5 m thick concrete walls.
Materials
Some figures concerning the materials used: 3,500 tons of crystal, 700,000 tons of steel and bronze, 900,000 m³ of wood and 200,000 m² of woollen carpets.
Romanian Origin
The Palace of the Parliament was constructed almost entirely of materials of Romanian origin. It has got 480 chandeliers and 1,409 ceiling lights.
French Chic
Modelled after the Champs-Élysées in Paris Centrul Civic is a complex of concrete buildings with marble fronts – part of Nicolae Ceausescu’s Project Bucharest. Close to the centre of his power – the House of the Republic – the apartments were originally intended to house the communist elite.
Centrul Civic
To build Nicolae Ceausescu’s vision of Centrul Civic an overall area of eight square kilometres were levelled – including churches, synagogues and monasteries.
Ion Antonescu
During WW II Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu made Romania an important military ally to Nazi Germany. He copied the Nazi policies and let up to 380,000 Jews and at least 11,000 Romanian Gypsies kill. The Romanian contribution to the plans of German dictator Adolf Hitler was enormous: in 1941 1.2 million men of the Romanian army had to serve and fight.
Coup
As a result of King Michaels’ Coup in 1944 Ion Antonescu and his regime was toppled. He was convicted of war crimes and executed on 1st June 1946.