Calea Victoriei: the avenue of victory

About Calea Victoriei: the avenue of victory

By the ULTIMATE Bucharest Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Calea Victoriei is Bucharest’s oldest and grandest avenue. Laid out in 1692 as a road through the forest, it became the city’s promenade in the 19th century, lined with palaces, hotels, theatres and churches, and took its name, “Victory Way”, after the War of Independence of 1877–78.

A road through the forest

In 1692, Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu ordered a road built from his court towards his estate at Mogoșoaia, paved with oak beams. It was called Podul Mogoșoaiei.

The promenade

By the 19th century it was the city’s fashionable street, where society came to see and be seen, and in 1878 it was renamed Calea Victoriei to celebrate Romania’s independence.

Calea Victoriei was paved with oak beams before it was paved with stone.

Palaces and theatres

Walk from the CEC Palace and the National History Museum past the Palace of the Telephones, the Odeon Theatre, Revolution Square, the Athenaeum, the Athénée Palace and the Cantacuzino Palace, with boutiques and cafés in between.

Our advice: walk the whole avenue north from the Old Town on a Sunday, when parts of it are often closed to traffic in summer, stopping for coffee and at the Athenaeum.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Calea Victoriei: the avenue of victory before you go.