Little Paris Night Tour Bucharest

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http://www.heygo.com 1st March - Bucharest Night Tour - The 'Little Paris of the East'



A different virtual tour - A night one !

For centuries, Bucharest has been at the crossroad between the Christian kingdoms to the west, the Tsars of the east and the Ottoman Empire to the south.

It was from these influences that Bucharest was in its prime when the country prospered under king Carol I.

Following a great fire in 1847, that sent a third of the city up in flames, there was need for new construction.

Beautiful boulevards were laid in french style, luxurious palaces were constructed and the face of the city was defined by the architecture of the Belle Époque style.



These important years from 1848 to 1930s shaped the city and is the reason why it was known all over Europe as the “Little Paris of the East”, not only for its elegant architecture but also for the fact that locals greeted each other in French, wore the latest Paris fashions, and would frequently travel to and study in France’s capital.



Then followed the Depression, the 2nd World War and a communist dictatorship, that saw the construction of unimaginative, grey concrete containers, that exemplify the Stalinist architecture.



Much of the Belle Époque architecture of Bucharest May have been obliterated by World War bombings, an earthquake in 1977 and the “redevelopment schemes” of Ceausescu in the 1980s – under which an overall area of eight square kilometers of the historic center of Bucharest were leveled – but that just means that the remaining buildings are even more precious. That the architecture is more treasurable.

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