thegeordietraveller
Aug 2017
3.5
A truly fascinating place to visit!
The Palace of the Parliament (otherwise known as 'The People's Palace') was built during the Nicolae Ceaușescu administration, although ironically, Ceaușescu himself never actually got to enjoy the Palace as it was intended due to being overthrown as the leader of Romania in 1989 and then executed, along with his wife, on Christmas Day of that same year. The building itself is a magnificent structure, and can proudly boast to be the second largest administrative building in the world - falling short only to the Pentagon in the USA.
The Palace has an incredibly regal looking balcony from which it was originally intended that Nicolae Ceaușescu would address the Romanian people from - however, a fun trivia fact is that the first person to speak from that balcony was in fact, Michael Jackson, during a tour of Romania! The Palace of the Parliament was also the scene of a very famous Top Gear episode, in which they drove super cars around the basement of the building. Other facts about the building include that it took 20,000 larbourers to complete the building, costing in excess of €3Bn and using only Romanian materials.
In terms of accessibility - the Palace of the Parliament can be accessed from the upper level of the building, with level access and automatic doors to make for smooth entry. Those visiting the Palace do so on an organised tour, and when entering the building from the accessible entrance, you will then meet with your tour party at one of the first points of interest on the tour itself - meaning that you do not miss any of the action. Once inside and on the tour, all aspects of the tour are accessible - with lifts available in order to get from floor to floor.
The Palace of the Parliament is definitely one of the highlights of not only Bucharest but of the whole of Romania.
The Palace of the Parliament (otherwise known as 'The People's Palace') was built during the Nicolae Ceaușescu administration, although ironically, Ceaușescu himself never actually got to enjoy the Palace as it was intended due to being overthrown as the leader of Romania in 1989 and then executed, along with his wife, on Christmas Day of that same year. The building itself is a magnificent structure, and can proudly boast to be the second largest administrative building in the world - falling short only to the Pentagon in the USA.
The Palace has an incredibly regal looking balcony from which it was originally intended that Nicolae Ceaușescu would address the Romanian people from - however, a fun trivia fact is that the first person to speak from that balcony was in fact, Michael Jackson, during a tour of Romania! The Palace of the Parliament was also the scene of a very famous Top Gear episode, in which they drove super cars around the basement of the building. Other facts about the building include that it took 20,000 larbourers to complete the building, costing in excess of €3Bn and using only Romanian materials.
In terms of accessibility - the Palace of the Parliament can be accessed from the upper level of the building, with level access and automatic doors to make for smooth entry. Those visiting the Palace do so on an organised tour, and when entering the building from the accessible entrance, you will then meet with your tour party at one of the first points of interest on the tour itself - meaning that you do not miss any of the action. Once inside and on the tour, all aspects of the tour are accessible - with lifts available in order to get from floor to floor.
The Palace of the Parliament is definitely one of the highlights of not only Bucharest but of the whole of Romania.
