In front of you is the building from which Romania's kings reigned. The story of the site begins with a house built between 1812 and 1815 by the Golescu family. From 1859 it was the residence of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza and, from 1866, of Prince and later King Carol I, the German of the house of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen whom Romania chose as its ruler.

1A new palace

In December 1926 a fire destroyed the central section. The old building was demolished entirely and the architect Nicolae Nenciulescu built the present palace, completed in 1937, with Queen Marie closely involved in its decoration. In 1940 the young King Michael took his oath here, aged eighteen.

223 August 1944

Romania was fighting alongside Nazi Germany under Marshal Ion Antonescu. On 23 August 1944, King Michael had him arrested in this palace and the country switched sides. In reprisal, the German air force bombed the building. Three years later, on 30 December 1947, the communists forced the king to abdicate.

The regime turned the palace into a venue for official ceremonies and, from the 1950s, into the National Museum of Art. In December 1989 it was damaged by fire during the fighting. Today it holds Romanian and European art; admission is usually charged, so check the museum's information if you want to go in.

3What to look for

  • The central block, with its columns and grand entrance.
  • The royal arms and monogram on the porch canopy.
  • The flagpole on the roof, which follows the protocol of royal residences.
Aerial view of the Royal Palace, the Sala Palatului and Kretzulescu Church
The palace from above, with Kretzulescu Church on the right.

Documented

The Golescu house of 1812–1815, the residence of Cuza and Carol I, the 1926 fire, the rebuilding completed in 1937, Antonescu's arrest on 23 August 1944 and the abdication of 30 December 1947 are documented.

Sources and credits

Muzeul Național de Artă al României (mnar.arts.ro), history of the palace; Romanian Wikipedia, «Palatul Regal din București»; Keith Hitchins, Rumania 1866–1947 (Oxford University Press, 1994).

Photos:

  • Central façade of the former Royal Palace of Bucharest, now the National Museum of Art: Neoclassicism Enthusiast, CC BY-SA 4.0.
  • Aerial view of the Royal Palace, the Sala Palatului and Kretzulescu Church: Roa, CC BY-SA 3.0 ro.

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