THE OLD PRINCELY COURT*

The Old Princely Court area can be identified with the medieval history of Bucharest, though continuity of human life in this part of the town dates back to the 10th and 4th centuries b.C., as attested by archaeological findings.

Between the 14th and the 18th centuries, the Princely Court polarized economic, social and political life in Wallachia's largest town, Bucharest, which has become, eventually, the indisputable capital of the country around the year 1660, after having competed with Târgoviste for most of the 17th century.

The fact that Bucharest was at mid-road between the former princely capital, Târgoviste and the Danube, at half distance between the river and the Carpathian Mountains, that it was surrounded by thick forests and lakes, having, just like the famous Rome, hillocks among which the town spread out as we know it today, had an utmost strategic importance. This is why, by the end of the 14th century, Mircea the Old, Wallachia's ruling prince, built a fortress with a dungeon and a defence moat; it stretched over about 160 sq. m, and was to protect the town from foreign invasions, particularly from Turks and Tartars. One can still touch nowadays the brick walls of that fortress. It stood up on a hillock down which flowed Bucharest's "Thames", the river of Dâmbovita (whose name means "oak leaf" and originates in Paleoslavonic, being relates to Bucharest's natural environment rich in thick forests). Beyond the brick walls of that fortress, the ruling prince, his family, courtiers, soldiers, foreign guests, bondsmen, together with all the assets of the princely court, i.e. cattle, horses, carts etc. must have felt safe.

Ever since the time of Vlad the Impaler (1456-1462; 1476), the one who inspired Bram Stoker's fiction work about prince Dracula, the fierce vampire, there is historic evidence that Bucharest, mentioned for the first time in a written document in 1459, played an important part in Wallachia's social, economic and political life. Starting from the foundations of the 14th century stronghold, Vlad the Impaler would extend the princely residence to about 700 sq. m, would build large cellars and would encompass it on its four sides with river stone walls, still to be seen.

Mircea Ciobanul, who ruled over Wallachia twice, between 1545-1554 and 1558-1559, was nicknamed "cioban" (shepherd) because he had been a trader in sheep before getting to the throne. He would turn the old fortress into a real princely residence by changing its original structure, and by adding to it a chancellery, a guard house, stables, a recreation pavilion, and the present Annunciation church, which, alongside the vaulted cellars of the princely court, can still be admired nowadays.

Mircea Ciobanul's princely court would attract many a craftsman and tradesman, who would gather around it with their commodities. By the end of the 16th century, the inhabitants of Bucharest amounted to 10,000 people, whereas the number of guilds was of about 40. The shops, workshops and private houses raised by tradesmen and craftsmen would bunch together around the Court. So did a whole network of radial roads, the still existent narrow lanes, which bear the names of their trade, i.e. goldsmiths, hatters, saddlemakers, shoemakers, tanners, furriers, grocers etc.

By the end of the 16th century, most towns in Wallachia had become commercial centres where country-side landowners would sell the farm produces of their estates, and buy commodities brought by merchants from abroad. The landowners (boyars) would buy land in princely residential towns like Bucharest where they would build not only residences for their own use, but also churches, monasteries and shops placed in the town's trade centre, or close to the market-place.

Mircea Ciobanul's name may be remembered not only for his constructive spirit and for his remarkable achievements, but also for his despotic manners and taste for violence, which was not uncommon for the morals of those times. For instance, in 1558, he would invite to his Court for a dinner party some 200 boyars and high officials. By his order, all of them would be stabbed to death by his Turkish guards, as he suspected them to have plotted against him. The tradition of cruel acts would be consistently followed by his fierceful wife, Lady Chiajna, grand-daughter to Stephen the Great, Moldavia's most prominent medieval ruling prince. Otherwise an energetic and cultivated woman (she had a good command of the Turkish and Arabic languages), she proved to have few scruples and no mercy when she felt her own, or her family's position threatened. Thus, they say that once become a widow, she would frighten to death a bunch of boyars whom she had invited to the Court for a dinner party: she theatrically flung on her guests' table, full of exquisite dishes, the freshly chopped off stained with blood head of a nobleman who had dared lay a claim to Wallachia's throne (then held by one of Lady Chiajna's younger sons).

But punishment for those who would plot for the princely throne was not always terminal. As the German diplomat Paulus Strassburgh would note down in 1632, those who aspired to the princely throne without having a right to, would be disgraced for life by having their right nostril cut off. When passing through Wallachia on his way to Constantinople as an ambassador of Sweden's king, Gustav Adolphe, Strassburgh would also write, in one of the few documents left to the day, that he had been highly impressed by Wallachia's rich and diverse natural resources, i.e. gold and silver mines, fertile lands and pastures, vineyards which produced exquisite wines, plenty of cattle, fowl and game, fish, horses, honey etc. He had been also pleased with the courtesy, conviviality and hospitality of his Romanian hosts, namely prince Leon and his boyars.

By the end of the 17th century, the Princely Court stretched over some 25,000 sq. m, and was the largest medieval ensemble in Wallachia. Apart from Mircea the Old, Vlad the Impaler and Mircea the Shepherd, it had been inhabited, restored, modified and consolidated by other renowned Romanian ruling princes like matei Basarab, Grigore Ghica, Gheorghe Duca, Serban Cantacuzino (whose name is related to the first print of the Bible in the Romanian language, in 1688). But he who made the Princely Court flourish was Constantin Brancoveanu (1688-1714). He extended the palace improving its appearance by vast vaulted halls, among which the Throne Hall was famous for its blue ceiling with golden stars and a suite of marble columns in its middle. Constantin Brâncoveanu would also embellish his residence with "una bella loggia", as one Italian traveller would mention admiringly. He also added wall paintings, marble stairs, a stone pavilion standing on stone pillars, a watch tower with a clock (quite a curiosity for those times in Wallachia), a marble Turkish bath, an Italian garden with an arbour a.s.o.

The formerly prevalent Eastern style of the Court was thus enriched with elements pertaining to the Western spirit and culture (probably taken over directly from Italy, from Louis the XIVth's France, or indirectly, from Peter the Great's Russia).

During Brâncoveanu's time, Bucharest had become the most thriving town in Wallachia, and one of the main cities in the south-eastern part of Europe. The number of guilds had doubled: from forty ones during Mircea Ciobanul's time in the 16th century to eighty of them, while its population had grown to 80,000 inhabitants.

Constantin Brâncoveanu was a clever politician and diplomat, a most prominent figure of the late Renaissance spirit in Wallachia. Unlike his predecessors and successors who were continually at war with their enemies, mainly the Turks, but also with Tartars, Cossacks, Austrians, Germans, Russians or Hungarians, he had a relatively long and quiet reign. This enabled him to found, in 1694, whatever was to be called in the 18th century "The Princely Academy", which is the Bucharest University's ancestor. Moreover, apart from his contribution to the Princely Court, he would build many churches, monasteries and princely residences both in Wallachia and abroad. Brancovan architecture combines Romanian traditional elements with decorative motifs influenced by the Byzantine, Baroque and Renaissance art styles. Among the historic sites relating to Constantin Brâncoveanu and which, fortunately, were spared by the lapse of time, even though they were restored several times, one may count St.George the New Church in Bucharest, Mogosoaia Palace close to Bucharest, and Horezu Monastery in the Vâlcea county.

Peace with the Ottoman Empire was maintained by the versatile diplomat Constantin Brâncoveanu by offering expensive gifts to the Turkish high officials, for he was a wealthy person, the "Prince of Gold" as Turks would call him. Unfortunately, Brâncoveanu's wealth did not save him from a violent death. Accused by the Turks that he had betrayed them in favour of the Austrians, brought to Constantinople by force, imprisoned for some months, during which he was put to the torture in order to confess where he had hidden his fabulous fortune, vehemently refusing to give up his Christian faith and become a Muslim, he would be eventually beheaded by the Turks together with his four sons. Their fate, the terrible ordeal through which Brâncoveanu and his sons had to go, their martyrdom, would be acknowledged by the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1992, who sanctify them every 16th of August. Brâncoveanu's body has been brought back to Wallachia by his wife, Lady Maria, and has been buried secretly in one of the churches he had built, namely St.George the New Church in Bucharest. From the Princely Court, the Turks had carried away to Constantinople a great many of Brâncoveanu's possessions and assets: 40 carts full of money and gems, the unique, richly ornamented, and most valuable crown of Wallachian princes, 2000 golden medals bearing Brâncoveanu's effigy, silverware, china, icons laid with gold and silver, rare books etc. The legend says that much of his fortune may have been hidden within the thick walls or in the cellars of the Princely Court, while his savings had been deposited in the treasuries of Venice. As nobody ever found anything, they were all lost forever.

He who followed Constantin Brâncoveanu to the throne, Stefan Cantacuzino, added to the Court a "palazzino" with 8 chambers, placed in the garden.

In the 17th century, the Princely Court would fall into ruins, being gradually ramshackled by earthquakes, fires or plunder. The ruling princes had long ceased to live there. The first Phanariot ruler of Wallachia, Nicolae Mavrocordat, would use the Cotroceni Palace as his princely residence; in 1775, another Phanariot prince, Alexandru Ipsilanti, would start to build a new princely court on the Mihai-Voda hillock in Bucharest which would be burnt to ashes some time later. By the end of the 18th century, the residence on Dâmbovita's bank would be called the Old Princely Court, a place of evil repute, where beggars, tramps, thieves, robbers, cheats, swindlers of the town would meet, hide, or just use it as a shelter. All that scum would be called mockingly The Idle Princes of the Old Court, and later on become the subject of a homonymous novel by Mateiu. I. Caragiale.

The last notable event which took place at the Old Princely Court was occasioned by the preliminary discussions of the Peace Treaty concluded at Kutchiuk-Kainargi subsequent to the Russian-Turkish war in 1773.

In 1798, prince Constantin Hangerli would sell by auction the lands of the Old Princely Court; craftsmen, merchants, landlords would buy them and raise their homes, workshops and shops, lending to the area the commercial destination that was kept to the day.

Archaeological diggings started in 1953, continued in 1959 and resumed intensively between 1967-1972 have brought to light traces relevant to the history of the Old Princely Court like fragments of the brick wall built in the 14th century, and of the stone wall raised by Vlad the Impaler in the 15th century, the basements of the princely residence with their vast and solid vaults, the walls of the chapel within the palace, door and column frames cut in stone, a bronze fibula, enameled pavement bricks, stone cannon balls, a 2 x 2 m wall painting showing a military camp and dating back to the 19th century, as well as various household objects like earth pots, earth candlesticks, dolls of burnt earth, weights for weaving looms, gutter tiles, iron tools etc.

In the absence of old drawings, scale models or engravings, and having at hand few and incomplete documents drawn by medieval Romanian chroniclers, or by foreign travellers, Romanian specialists find it difficult to reconstitute the plans of the princely residence. Besides, it is an acknowledged fact that during the rules of Mircea the Old, Vlad the Impaler, Matei Basarab, Grigore Ghica, or of Constantin Brâncoveanu, the court looked different, as each of them has brought important spatial, functional and aesthetic changes.

For the time being, the status quo of the present Old Princely Court Museum is preferred to a thorough restoration that may reconstitute but one of its historic stages to the detriment of the other ones, which may somehow disconnect it from the natural course of its history.

The ruins of the old Princely Court make up a Museum by the same name.

THE OLD PRINCELY COURT'S CHURCH

Mircea Ciobanul, who ruled Wallachia twice, between 1545-1554 and 1558-1559 respectively, built a church belonging to his princely residence. It is nowadays known as the Church of the Annunciation or St. Antony's Church, the oldest church in Bucharest which preserved its original form.

Built on the place of a former wooden church which burnt up, restored after another fire in 1847, and over again in 1934, by the Commission of Historical Monuments, the church was conceived in the Wallachian architectural style of the 16th century: it singles out by its harmony and balance of proportions. It has got a three-cusped design, it is 25m long and 8m wide on the outwards; its narthex is covered by a semicircular vault, and its nave has a belfry. The decoration of its façades is made of face brick stripes alternating with plaster stripes. At cornices, a series of small decorated niches and buttreses which support the outer walls remind one of the Moldavian style of architecture, a fact which may be associated with the influence exerted by Lady Chiajna, Mircea Ciobanul's wife and daughter to Petru Rares.

The portal of the church, well-proportioned, and beautifully carved in brancovan style,though probably too adorned as compared to the simplicity of the edifice's façades, has been added by Brâncoveanu's successor to Wallachia's throne, Stefan Cantacuzino, in 1715. In the church, on the left hand side of the portal, facing the apse, there are murals of the church's founders: Mircea Ciobanul (whose tombstone is within the church) and his wife, Lady Chiajna; on the right hand side of the portal are to be seen ruling prince Stefan Cantacuzino and his wife, Lady Pauna.

The altar screen has wrought carvings covered with golden small leaf, the iconostasis is decorated with symbols taken from the Old Testament, whereas the apse holds original frescoes dating back to the 16th century.

St. Antony's miracle working icon holds place of pride among the large silver icons of the church. It draws together many people, especially on Tuesday mornings, when the church often becomes toonarrow to hold them all. Antony is a popular, benevolent saint, who, seemingly, has never failed to make a believer's wish come true.

The church of the Old Princely Court was the coronation place of Wallachia's ruling princes for almost three centuries (between the 2nd half of the 16th century and the 1st half of the 19th century). In this Romanian "Westminster Abbey", Wallachian princes used to be "unctioned", and receive God's blessing during a solemn ceremony doubled by a popular feast. After the divine service and after having been entrusted with the princely crown, cloack, belt, handjar and sword, on their way out of the church, the newly assigned princely rulers would have to step on the fresh blood of two rams, which, according to an old tradition, would grant them courage and strength.

In front of the church, and resembling its architectural style, there stands the vicarage. Built in 1935 by architect Horia Teodoru, the parish house has its corners decorated with two inlays representing the Annunciation by Nora Steriadi.
MANUC'S INN

In the area of the present streets of Lipscani and Stavropoleos, there used to be a great number of inns, which were part and parcel of the flourishing commercial world of Bucharest between the 16th and 19th centuries. Actually few of those inns resisted to the test of time, of which the Lime-Tree Inn, built up in 1833 and Manuc's Inn raised in 1808 by a wealthy Armenian, Emanuel Mârzaian, called by the Turks Manuc-bei (prince). They say that Manuc, a rich adventurer, who was also a merchant and a political man, was the owner of a fabulous fortune made up of money, gems, houses, shops, estates and even mountains. After 1812, he was forced to leave the country for fear of the Turks, and once arrived in France, he was adopted by the French high-life society. He owned a stately palace and was considered to be the most elegant foreigner who lived in Paris. He was versatile in 12 different languages, and had many love affairs. But the most sensational story about him, which was also recorded by the press of the time, was an act of philanthropy: the 100,000 FF he won at gambling one night, were all given to the poor the next day. The Turks asked Napoleon I to hand him over to them. But Manuc-bei learned about it from the prefect of Paris, Fouché, duke of Otranto, so that he fled away to Russia. It was there that he was poisoned to death some years later.

Manuc's Inn, one of the most beautiful samples of old town architecture preserved in Wallachia, stretches partially over the territory once held by the Old Princely Court. The plot of land was bought by Manuc at an auction, and was located in the very commercial centre of the city, with streets that still bear the names of the tradesmen who populated the area, i.e. Lipscani - shopkeepers whose merchandises were brought from Leipzig; Gabroveni - dealers in clothes from Gabrovo, Bulgaria; Covaci - ironmongers; sepcari - hatters and cap dealers; selari - saddlemakers etc. So, in old times, Manuc's Inn was both a meeting and a resting place for tradesmen and tradeswomen; it was known for its noise, dirt and many carts. Many a traveller, even if they did not put up there, would stop by just to have a look at the picturesque yard and at the inn's superposed interior open porticos and bedrooms.

* It was then that Moldavia had to concede Bessarabia to Russia.

A GLIMPSE ON THE LIPSCANI AREA, BUCHAREST

The Lipscani area is a lively part of old Bucharest which polarized various trades between the 15th-18th centuries. Its name comes from Lipsca (Leipzig) as a reminder of the flourishing commercial exchanges that were once made in Wallachia.

After the earthquake in 1977, the historic area of Lipscani was often threatened with demolition; when they started to build the so-called Civic Centre on Ceausescu's order, in its close vicinity, Lipscani entered an age of decay and oblivion. It was partially restored after 1990, especially in the Banks area, but most of the old houses and narrow sloping streets still wait for some Prince Charming investor who may return to them their formerly life and glamour.

Even before the official foundation of Bucharest (September 20, 1459), the Lipscani area represented the heart of the city. Once the political and economic power concentrated in the area of the Princely Court, around 1600, a lot of guilds and shops came into being, and that is why the area would be populated with goldsmiths, hatters, shoemakers, tanners, furriers, saddlemakers, grocers a.o. Many streets in the area still bear the names of those tradesmen and craftsmen. Along with the Romanians, there were communities of Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, Armenian, Jewish, Albanian and Austrian merchants. This mixture of nationalities is relevant for the flourishing trade relationships established in old Bucharest, to the benefit of both shopkeepers and customers.

If one takes an imaginary trip back into time, he or she can see the shopkeepers out in the street near their stores, for they never stood behind the counter; they would watch people from the outside, encourage them to buy their merchandise, negotiate prices with them, for each pedestrian could be a possible customer, and thus contribute to their wealth.

Luxury and poverty, expensive and cheap commodities were mixed up in the same manner in which the Eastern world would meet the Western one in this part of Europe.

There were many inns built in the area for the tradesmen who would stop by for business in Bucharest, or would be on their way to other cities and fairs. Most of the formely known inns have not resisted to the test of time; others can still be seen, like the Inn with Lime Trees (1833) or the Manuc's Inn (1808) - see also presentation.

When walking along the by-streets of Lipscani, one can still be impressed by the architecture of the one-storey houses built in different styles: Renaissance, Baroque, Neo Classic, or sometimes a mixture of them all, with their fine ornaments, baroque balconies, classic façades and eclectic decorations.

At the end of Lipscani St., there is the Smârdan St., where one can find some banks built in the 19th century, i.e. the National Bank (built between 1883-1885, and conceived by architects Albert Galleron and Cassien Bernard in neo-classic French style), Ion Tiriac Bank, the Bank for Agriculture.

After having left the Smârdan St., one reaches the Stavropoleos St., well-known for the famous Stavropoleos Church built in 1724 by the Greek monk Ioanichie, in late brancovan style (see its vegetal decorations: the belt with floral motives, columns with flowers). Near the church, there is a "chiostro", a yard with three covered sides, in which there are columns, slabs and tombstones. The "chiostro" was designed by one of the most prominent Romanian architects, Ion Mincu who also restored the church in 1899.

Where Stavropoleos St. meets Victoriei Avenue, there is a famous restaurant and beer house, i.e. "The Beer Cart" (1879). Both its façades and interiors are built in Neo-gothic style (see pavement, columns, arches, chandeliers, wooden staircase, furniture, mural paintings on the walls and the ceiling). This place was much sought by famous Romanian literary and political figures, who would often meet there and discuss topical matters of their time over a mug of beer.

A bit farther, across the street, on the Victoriei Avenue, stands the Palace of the Savings Bank, an imposing and well-balanced edifice built in the French academic eclectic style by architect Paul Gottereau. The palace has a square shape, a large central dome with metallic ribs separated by glass, which allows natural light to come in; there are also four smaller domes, whereas the main entrance has a monumental archway, supported on both sides by two pillars in composite style.

Going back to Smârdan St., one can admire the richly-decorated building of the Fashion House (1881) built in neo-classic style combined with Renaissance elements. The interiors are as luxurious as one can expect for a fashion house: marble staircase, columns with gilt ornanemts, stained-glass.

The Lipscani commercial area was developed around the Old Princely Court placed in the Princely St. (the present French St.), the oldest one in Bucharest. It used to be paved with oak beams by order of Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu in 1692, and was designed to link his Princely Court to the Mogosoaia Bridge (today's Victoriei Avenue), which led right to Brâncoveanu's summer residence at Mogosoaia. The oak beams come from the rich forests around Bucharest can still be seen at the entrance of Manuc's Inn (1804-1808), in the close neighbourhood of the present-day ruins of the Old Princely Court.

May you wish to buy a souvenir like an antique, an art, or a Romanian folk object, glassware, a household commodity, or would you look after a fine lady fur coat, the small shops in the Lipscani area are there to please you.

THE METROPOLITAN CHURCH

Consecrated to Saint Emperors Constantine and Helen, the church is situated on the Metropolitan Church Hill, and is a construction of impressive proportions (28 m long in the interior, with a 14.60 m wide narthex). It was raised in 1656-1658 by prince Constantin Serban Basarab. During Radu Leon's rule (1664-1669), the church became the Wallachian Metropolitan seat, as in the 16th century it had been moved from Târgoviste to the Sf.Gheorghe-Vechi Monastery first, and then to Radu Voda Monastery in Bucharest.

In a document dated 8 June 1668, prince Radu Leon states that "I painted and ornated it (the church) with all the adornments". The structure of the church - three- cusped, with an enlarged narthex, and four steeples above - reproduces almost faithfully the plan of the See Church at Curtea de Arges; however, its bigger dimensions and the large open porch supported by twelve brick pillars differentiate it from the latter.

The façades are decorated with two registers of blind arches, separated by a median stone belt made up of three mouldings twisted here and there. The blind arches in the lower register are simple, while those in the upper one are narrower and grouped in pairs. The median belt is set between two rows of bricks placed in a sawteeth pattern.

Out of the old 1668 frescoes, only the icon representing the patrons of the church was preserved and can be seen in the recess above the porch door. Above the porch, there are several paintings accomplished in 1935-1939 by D.Belizarie; they represent angels, prophets and the twelve Apostles. In the narthex there is the votive picture of Constantin Serban Basarab and Radu Leon with their wives, as well as the portraits of the Metropolitans who had the church restored or repaired, among whom Patriarch Miron Cristea. It is also in the narthex that stands a silver chest with relief ornaments, holding the relics of St.Dimitrie Basarobov - the saint patron of Bucharest - brought from Bulgaria by the Russian general Salticov, and presented as a gift to the Metropolitan Church.

The belfry in front of the church was raised in 1698 by Constantin Brâncoveanu, and was restored in 1958. The Metropolitan Church is the place where all official religious ceremonies are held.

In 1688, the printing workshop of the Metropolitan Church brought out the famous Bible of Bucharest, the first complete translation of the Bible into Romanian, made by brothers Serban and Radu Greceanu and issued on Serban Cantacuzino's initiative. This work, a monument of the old Romanian language, played an important role in the development of the literary Romanian language.

During the restoration works of 1799, 1834-1839, 1850 and 1886, the old paintings were effaced, and certain changes and completions were made. The most important repairs and restorations were carried out by the Commission for Historical Monuments in 1935-1939, and in 1959-1962, when the church was repainted and got an aspect close to its present one.

THE UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST

The foundations of the present building of the University placed in University Square were laid in 1857. For this very important event a medal was stamped. It can be admired today in the Numismatic Collection of the Romanian Academy.The building was erected after a competition during which more offers have been analysed. The winner of this competition brought together 70 Austrian builders. The stone and the marble were brought from Pest (a part of the present Hungarian capital, Budapest) on the Danube to Giurgiu and afterwards in carts to Bucharest, as the railway linking Bucharest to Giurgiu -port to the Danube- was constructed only in 1869. Because of the lack of financial resources, the building was inaugurated after twelve years, in 1869. The original building had two floors and was constituted only of the part that lines nowadays Carol Boulevard. The façade had a peristyle with ionic columns and bas-reliefs made by Karl Storck. Unfortunately, during the aerial allied bombardments in 1944, the works of Karl Storck were destroyed. Initially, the edifice also housed other institutions, as the Senate, the Romanian Academy, the Central Library, the Antiquities and Natural History Museum, the Art School a.o.

The other wings were constructed under the direction of Nicolae Ghica-Budesti between 1912 and 1926.

From the 17th century to the first decades of the 19th, on the very spot on which University Square is to be found today, were the buildings and the garden of the Saint Sava Monastery. It was there that functioned the 'High Society School', which became in 1709 the 'Princely Academy', initiated by Constantin Brancoveanu, a centre of culture famous in south-eastern of Europe.

At the beginning of the 19th century, after 1817, St. Sava Monastery housed St. Sava College, the first superior school with Romanian teaching. French was the teaching language for a short time in 1847, but the 1848 Revolution reintroduced Romanian. As there was not a clear-cut distinction between secondary and superior school, this college represented both levels.

The University was founded as a superior school in 1864, four years after the Iasi University, the first Romanian modern university. In 1864 it included the Law, Sciences, Letters and Philosophy Faculties. The first doctor's degree was given in 1873 by the Pharmacy Faculty.

The University's 'golden age' was between the two world wars. It ranked then, thanks to the quality of the teachers and the number of students (15700 students), among the greatest universities, along with Columbia University in New York, Paris University, London University and New York University.

In 1945 this remarkable period finished brutally, as some of the best professors were destituted, while some others were emprisoned for having opposed, in one way or another, the emerging communist régime. After several years, some of them could come back, but the atmosphere was no longer the same, that of liberty of thinking and open competition. After 1990, segnificant progress had been recorded in the quality of teaching, with an increased number of students. It has nowadays approximately 20,000 students and 14 faculties.

THE ARCH OF TRIUMPH

It is situated at the second circus of the Kiseleff boulevard, at its intersection with Marshal Prezan and Marshal Averescu Boulevards, near one of the south entries of the Herastrau Park.

The first monument, a wooden one, was erected on the same spot in 1922. The actual arch was built in 1935 in Deva granite, by Architect Petre Antonescu, who is also the father of the Bucharest City Hall. It is conceived in classical style, following the model of the great Arch of Triumph in Paris.

Its shape is that of a parallelipiped, with a 25 x 11.5 m basis and a height of 27 m. Its span is 11 m high and 9.5 m wide and has an arch of a circle at its upper part. The two feet of the monument have interior staircases which lead to the terrace of the monument.

Its façades are decorated with stone carvings -bas-reliefs, medallions, royal crowns and the effigies of Queen Mary and King Ferdinand, who had an important contribution to the 1918 union of all Romanian speaking provinces. Famous sculptors like Ion Jalea, Cornel Medrea, Mac Constantinescu, Frederick Storck, Dimitrie Paciurea or Constantin Baraschi contributed to the decoration of the monument.