Revolution Square

Look at the balcony of the long pale building in front of you. From there, on 21 December 1989, Nicolae Ceaușescu addressed a crowd for the last time. It was the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party, and the rally had been organised to show support for the regime after the uprising in Timișoara.

1The speech that went wrong

Ceaușescu wanted to repeat his triumph of August 1968, when, in this same square, he condemned the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and reached the peak of his popularity. This time, within minutes, the whistling and shouting began. State television, broadcasting live, cut the picture, but millions of Romanians had already seen the bewilderment on his face. That night there was shooting in central Bucharest.

On 22 December, with the square packed with protesters, Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu fled by helicopter from the roof of the building. They were captured the same day, tried by an improvised military court and executed on 25 December. In the fighting of those days the Central University Library opposite caught fire, and hundreds of thousands of books were lost.

2The memorial

In the centre stands the Memorial of Rebirth, by the sculptor Alexandru Ghilduș, unveiled on 1 August 2005. Locals quickly gave it ironic nicknames, such as «the potato on a stick». Beside it, a wall lists in brass letters the names of the victims of the Revolution.

3What to look for

• The balcony above the entrance of the former Central Committee, now the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
• The Memorial, a 25-metre white pyramid.
• The equestrian statue of Carol I in front of the library, a replica unveiled in 2010 of the one the communists destroyed in 1948.