Little Paris: the Belle Époque architects of Bucharest

About Little Paris: the Belle Époque architects of Bucharest

By the ULTIMATE Bucharest Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Between the 1870s and the First World War, Bucharest rebuilt itself in the image of Paris. Romanian architects trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, and French architects worked here too, filling the boulevards with palaces, domes and grand façades. People began to call it Micul Paris, Little Paris.

Why Paris?

After the union of Wallachia and Moldavia in 1859 and independence in 1878, Romania looked west, to France, for its models in law, education and architecture. Wealthy families sent their sons to study in Paris, and they came back with Beaux-Arts tastes.

The Athenaeum

The Romanian Athenaeum, designed by the French architect Albert Galleron and opened in 1888, is the masterpiece of the era: a domed, temple-fronted concert hall partly paid for by a public appeal, “Give a leu for the Athenaeum”.

Bucharest’s grandest buildings were designed in Paris style, and often by Parisians.

The CEC Palace

The French architect Paul Gottereau designed the CEC Palace on Calea Victoriei, completed in 1900, a savings bank crowned with a glass-and-metal dome, and also the Central University Library.

A Romanian style

In reaction, Ion Mincu developed a neo-Romanian style, drawing on Brâncovenesc churches and peasant houses, with loggias, carved columns and ceramic decoration. His Bufetul de la Șosea and the Central Girls’ School are its manifestos.

Our advice: walk Calea Victoriei from the CEC Palace to the Athenaeum and Revolution Square, look up at the façades, and book a concert at the Athenaeum to see its frescoed hall.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Little Paris: the Belle Époque architects of Bucharest before you go.