Palace of the Parliament

The Palace of Parliament is one of the most interesting tourist attractions in Bucharest. No matter how many palaces you've seen in your life, the size and architectural style of this grand edifice will take your breath away. Did people mention "architectural style"? In fact, most architects blame this palace for combining multiple architectural styles into one. It is the world's second-largest administrative building (after the Pentagon), an architectural behemoth that is also the world's heaviest building.

It was originally called the People's House by its visionary, the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who used it as his family's residence and as the seat of his government. It has more than 3,000 rooms spread across 330,000 square meters and was built with marble and steel. Ceausescu finished it by razing places of worship, workshops, factories, parks, a portion of the Old Town, and entire neighborhoods. Over a 13-year period, from 1985 to 1997, more than 20,000 workers and 700 architects worked on the opulent Neoclassical-style palace, during which time the majority of Romanians faced poverty.

Although it is still unfinished, a small portion houses Romania's parliamentary headquarters as well as the National Museum of Contemporary Art. Scheduled tours bring visitors up close to the vastness, kitsch, and extravagant luxury Ceausescu would have continued to enjoy had he not been deposed in a coup.

Google rating: 4.5/5

Address: Strada Izvor 2-4, București, Romania

Phone: +40 21 316 0300

Website: http://www.cdep.ro/