BUCHAREST

Location Nord-West Of Roumenia

Population 1.883.425

Area 228 km²

River River Dambovita

History Legend has it that Bucharest was founded by a shepherd named Bucur.
According to another more probable variant, Bucharest was founded by Mircea cel Bătrân at
the end of the 14th century.
• Bucharest is the capital of Romania. It is the most populous city and the most
important industrial and commercial center of the country.
It is also called "Little Paris".
Bucharest is located on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, which flows into Argeș, a
tributary of the Danube. Several lakes - the most important of which are Herastrau,
Floreasca, Tei and Colentina - stretch in the northern parts of the city, along Colentina, a
tributary of Dambovita. In addition, in the center of the capital there is a small artificial lake -
Lake Cismigiu - surrounded by the park of the same name. This park has a rich history, once
frequented by poets and writers.
Also notable are Herastrau Park and the Botanical Garden. Herăstrău Park is located
in the northern part of the city, around Herăstrău Lake, and includes the National Museum of
the Village "Dimitrie Gusti". The Botanical Garden in the Cotroceni district, established after
the model of the one in Liège, is the largest in Romania and contains over 10,000 species of
plants, many of them exotic. It was born as a place of supply of herbs for students of what
would later become the Faculty of Medicine. In addition to those mentioned, there are other
large parks in Bucharest: Tineretului Park, Alexandru Ioan Cuza Park (also known as Titan
Park or IOR Park), Kiseleff Park, Carol I Park, as well as many smaller parks and green
spaces arranged by district town halls.
• The settlement is documented on September 21, 1459 in an act issued by Vlad
Țepeș, lord of Wallachia, which strengthens an estate of some boyars. The Dâmbovița
fortress, as the city still appears in the first years, had a strategic role, following to supervise
the road that went from Târgșor to Giurgiu, in the last settlement there was an Ottoman
garrison. In a short time, Bucharest asserted itself, being elected on October 14, 1465 by
Radu cel Frumos as a royal residence. In the years 1558–1559, the Royal Church was built
at the Old Court, founded by Mr. Mircea Ciobanul, which remains to this day the oldest place
of worship in the city preserved in its original form.
In the 1930s, the first modernisms of the century appeared; thus, with the
Telephone Palace, a small American-type skyscraper rises on Calea Victoriei. In the 1950s,
some representative buildings of the new power were erected in the center, for example
Casa Scânteii (1956) or Opera Română (1953).
Between 1968 and 1970 the Intercontinental Hotel was built, until 2004 the tallest tower
construction in Romania, and also in 1970 the new building of the National Theater was
completed.

Union Square image.

University Palace of Bucharest

Bucharest is a strong university center, with 120 high schools and 33 public and private universities
and university campuses, which attract pupils from all over the country.

"Carol I" Central University Library

The capital also has 378 libraries (public, municipal, university), and annual events such as "Library
Night" have popularized reading among Bucharest residents. The National Library, whose new
headquarters was inaugurated in 2012, is the largest in the country, with 14 reading rooms and no
less than nine million books. The Central University Library "Carol I" also stands out as one of the
largest libraries in Bucharest.
• Bucharest is divided administratively into 6 sectors and is the only city in the country
that has a subway.


Population
Section Area (km²)
(2011)

Sector 1 67,5 225.453

Sectorl
32 345.370
2

Sector 3 32 385.439

Sector 4 34 287.828

Sector 5 30 271.575

Sector 6 38 367.760
 Emblematic buildings
The Parliament (hosted in the Parliament Palace or the
People's House), the Government and the Presidency of Romania have their headquarters in
Bucharest. Also, there are numerous cultural institutions, such as: Romanian Academy (founded
in 1866), over 60 research institutes, University, Polytechnic Institute, Institute of Medicine,
many other higher education institutes, large libraries (Academy Library, National Library, Central
University Library).
 Being a Christian-Orthodox people, churches are everywhere. The most important
places of worship in Bucharest are:

Catedrala Sf. Spiridon

Nou, cel mai mare lăcaș
de cult ortodox din
București  

Biserica Kretzulescu