House of the People in Bucharest is the Palace of the Romanian Parliament. It is the second largest administrative building for civilian use in the world, after the US Pentagon. It is the heaviest building on Earth. The communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu made from 1.5 billion lb of steel and bronze for doors. The capitals and windows are all monumental. They used 7,7 million lb of crystal glass for 480 chandeliers. More than that, here are more than 1,400 ceiling lights and mirrors and 35,3 million ft of marble.

MORE AND MORE RECORDS

In Bucharest People House, the parquet and wainscoting were made from 900,000 cubic meters of wood. There are also velvet and brocade curtains with embroideries in silver and gold. Only the floor area is 360,000 square meter. While the underground parking is large enough for 20,000 cars.

UPDATE August 2021: NEW TARIFFS FOR VISITING PALACE OF PARLIAMENT!

BUCHAREST PALACE OF PARLIAMENT WORLD RECORD

That is no surprise. It is the World Record Academy. Bucharest people house measures 270 m by 240 m, 86 m high and 92 m under the ground. Total costs were 3.5 billions euros. Thus the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest is the most expensive administrative building in the world. That is according to World Record Academy. It has 1,100 rooms, four underground levels. 200 architects and 20,000 people worked on it.

They worked 27/7 from the eartly 80s until 1989. It was the year when Nicoale Ceausescu and his wife died. At the revolution, a revolutionary committee ordered their execution. That broke down the Communist Party and ended the 50 years dictatorship. Ceausescu ruled for almost 25. If you want to learn more about where he lived and how his private life was, read HERE!

ARCHITECT ANCA PETRESCU MADE THE PLANS

The House of the People was part of a gigantic project, The Civic Center. It was a copy of Pyongyang city in North Korea. Nicolae Ceausescu decided to build this state within a state in 1978. It was after the 7.2 earthquake that had devastated Bucharest on March, 4, 1977. The capital needed a restoration and the Civic Center was part of the plan. What did that mean? Ceausescu wanted to build The House of the People, or The House of the Republic. In the plan there was a new Minister of Defense. And also a new Museum of the Communist Party and a Guests House( now Marriott Hotel). Near Bucharest people house had to be a huge park. It is right the Izvor Park nowadays. He also wanted a boulevard called The Victory of Socialism Bd. ( actual The Unification Bd).

HUGE COSTS FOR A HUGE PROJECT

A very young architect won the national contest with her plan for the Civic Center. Her name was Anca Petrescu, 28 years old. In 1982, soldiers and ordinary workers began to put down all the buildings in the area. 400,000 people had to find new homes. In dispair, many of them took their own lives. Authorities destroyed 18 churches and 8 synagogues had the same fate. They also knocked down a hospital and a stadium. One of the oldest churches in Bucharest, MIHAI VODA CHURCH was moved in this period. In June, 25, 1983, Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena Ceausescu, officially inaugurate the site. The entire project of the House of the People was to rise on the so-called Arsenal Hill.

HOUSE OF PEOPLE IN BUCHAREST ARCHITECTURE

In late 1989 only a few rooms and the exterior were completed. That work continued until 1997. The House of the People is built in New-constructivist architectural style of the 1960s, so inspired by the Stalinist model of Lomonosov University in Moscow. The square in front of the palace (today Constitution Square) is just like the Pyongyang Central Square and Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Here Ceausescu intended to bring half a million people for various communist festivities.

The building has housed the Romania’s Chamber of Deputies or the Parliament. The Senate joined in 2005. This part of the Legislative Power had been housed by the former Communist Party Central Committee building in Revolution Square.

The Palace of Parliament housed the largest NATO summit ever. The meeting took place in the Union Hall, the largest room in the building and which features a sliding glass ceiling that could support the weight of a helicopter.
There are public tours organized in different languages. Reservations needed. See timetable and fees HERE.

ROMANIAN PALACE OF PARLIAMENT MAP