CEAUSESCU HOUSE ENTRANCE

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: Ceausescu house or Ceausescu mansion is also known as the Spring Palace and is on Spring Boulevard, No. 50 in Bucharest

CEAUSESCU HOUSE SHORT GUIDANCE

In you plan to visit Ceausescu House in Bucharest, you should know that reservations are needed 24 hours before your arrival or online ticket reservation. There are simple guidance tours for 55 RON and private tours for 250 RON. Ceausescu House is open for visitors from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. During the simple tour, you will see Ceausescu work room, then Valentin’s flat, the living room, Nicu and Zoe’s suits at the first floor, Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu bedroom and bathroom, their famous so-called golden bathroom, their wardrobe, the pool and the winter garden. The short guidance in Romanian or English will introduce you rather shortly in the dictator’s family private life while important details like the Romanian hard life during the Communist period is rarely mentioned. This is why will write down here many unknown things about Ceausescu and his about 25 years reign.

CEAUSESCU WORK ROOM

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: Nicolae Ceausescu work room was also a reception room where guests were invited and it is to mention that all the pieces of furniture were made in Romania

Less known is that Nicolae Ceausescu rarely worked from home. This private space was used for conversations with different heads of secret services, advisors, teachers or Communist party leaders. Actually, according to the book At Ceausescu’s court, by Maria Dobrescu, few people entered this house and nobody, not even the employees, were allowed to stay over the night. The dictator used to deal with the state affairs from the Communist Party headquarters together with the other trusted leaders. He used to leave the Spring Palace at about 8 or 9 every morning.

DICTATOR CEAUSESCU WORKTABLE

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: At his desk in his work room Ceausescu rarely solved state issues but he used his worktable for private lessons with teachers and experts in foreign politics economy and even grammar

It was not easy to work with Ceausescu. He was inflexible in thinking, stubborn, hated others’ arguments when was contradicted and, very interesting, he was parsimonious to extreme. He used to blame anyone who did not do his job according to his wishes. Though, in his youth, Ceausescu was a simple shoemaker assistant, he proved to be not stupid at all. According to L. Betea’s Ceausescu’s life book, from 1961 to 1963, he managed to discover an entire network of Russian spies in Romania.  And he loved Chess. Actually near his work room, it is a special living room where he used to play chess with other Communist leaders.

CEAUSESCU CHESS BOARD

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: Next to his work room is the room where Ceausescu used to invite his guests especially heads of the repression structures to play chess and the dictator always won for nobody dared to play better than him

CEAUSESCU BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER

Both Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu used to eat the same dishes. And they both hated food to be thrown away. Their food was brought from the Party’s kitchen, but they had a personal cook too. According to multiple sources, including a woman who took care of them and of the Spring Palace for more than 20 years, Ceausescu family was not a fancy food lover. For breakfast, the Ceausescu couple would usually order two slices of Prague ham, two slices of salami, 200 g cheese and a bottle of milk. Sometimes, when Nicolae Ceausescu had to work from other residence, at Snagov, where the employees had an entire farm, he used to get few eggs directly from the chickens shelter, gave them to the cook and asked for omelette.

In his early times as head of state, Ceausescu did not mind the cook to prepare for them food for two days. At lunch, they could eat for example potatoes soup with lot of lovage, vegetables and borsch or tomatoes soup and cutlet with vegetables two days consecutively with no problem. Both Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu used to eat salad soup with borsch, spinach food, cabbage with meat, rarely pork and traditional pork ham, they also loved chicken with polenta and garlic and never said no to fish. Romanian traditional salad was also their favorite, while for drinking Ceausescu rarely used to drink, only homemade cherry brandy or the Romanian tzuica. He never drank coffee, nor ate chocolate.

They did not eat much at dinner: some cheese souffle, fish, a salad with beef grill, pancakes, milk or some fruit. Neither Nicolae, nor Elena Ceausescu thought they could be poisoned. Yet, their food was checked, especially the cooked food. Their children rarely had lunch with them. Some say that Nicolae used to invite Zoe to have dinner with him and Elena when she was at home. Otherwise, they only met in the morning and in the evening. When students, Zoe, Valentin and Nicu used to eat in town with their mates. Or they ate what was send from the Party’s kitchen or cooked on their own. All Ceausescu’s children left the Spring Palace in 1984 and 1985.

  THE FLATS INSIDE CEAUSESCU HOUSE BUCHAREST

Your next stop inside Ceausescu House, after the chess room, will be Valentin’s flat. All flats are decently large and may look luxurious if compared to ordinary people’s flats in small blocks built during the communist period. Valentin’s flat has a living-room and a bedroom and was decorated in Renaissance style. It was used Ruschita marble, extremely valuable. The carpet was made at Cisnadie and ordinary people who were not members of the communist party had to wait about 5 years to buy such thing. Valentin will remain in history as the one who led the football team, Steaua Bucharest, as manager, to its greatest victory ever, in 1986 when it won UEFA Champions League against Barcelona. Also, he used to persuade his mother to allow the public television to broadcast different events when people could watch tv only 2 hours a day at news which were propaganda about how great communism was and how Nicolae Ceausescu was the most beloved ruler. In 1989, Valentin went to his father at the Communist Party headquarters and asked him to resign, since the Revolution had begun. It was a few days before Nicolae and Elena were executed on Christmas day. Though, religion and the church were hardly tolerated in the communist regime and Ceausescu was thought to atheist, they always had a Christmas tree at the Spring Palace.

VALENTIN CEAUSESCU FLAT

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: Every flat in Ceausescu house has a living room, bedroom, bathroom and this is the flat of Valentin the elder Ceausescu sons

WHEN NIXON VISITED CEAUSESCU HOUSE

Your next stop the visit of Ceausescu House in Bucharest will be the living room. It is the largest room and the place where Nicolae Ceausescu met the US President, Richard Nixon. It was in 1969 after the Romanian president condemned the Russian invasion of Prague in 1968. The living room has also doors to a terrace where peacock used to live, being the dictator’s favorite birds.

CEAUSESCU LIVING ROOM

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: This is the living room where actually Ceausescu did not invite anyone except the President of the United States Richard Nixon in 1969 and it happened only once of course

How did Nixon visit Romania? It was the first visit of a US President in a communist country after the GREAT war and the start of the Cold War. Well, in 1967 Ceausescu met Nixon at Bucharest when he was only a secretary of state and the ceremony was great for an American still not VIP. Nixon did not forget that and in 1969 he payed his duty, making Ceausescu one of the most popular communist leaders worldwide. What did Ceausescu say about Nixon? He praised him and said that Nixon has more healthy social origins that many communists since he worked in his youth as a vegetables seller and his wife is the daughter of a miner. Nixon said that in Romania he had the most touching experience in 50 external state visits. Ceausescu will also be invited by Richard Nixon in the United States in 1970.

CEAUSESCU AND NIXON

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded: 2023-09-18
Description: Some say that only Richard Nixon, Charles de Gaulle and Fidel Castro visited Ceausescu in the Spring Palace which was actually the private house of the dictator while the other international leaders were brought to a house at Snagov near Bucharest

In your tour in Ceausescu House Bucharest you will see next Nicu Ceausescu flat. He was the rebel of the family. Yet, he understood that something was wrong in the public policies of the communist party taken in the name of his father and, while being the chief of the party in Sibiu, allowed prosperity for people in that county. When the other counties had no food, in Sibiu everything was alright. He was to be the next president of Romania following the Kim dynasty pattern in North Korea. He died in 1996 of cirrhosis. His flat was decorated with English classics influence. And after that, you will be introduced to Zoia’s flat, which looks like an usual apartment of a stylish woman with upper classes and budget nowadays. The furniture is Ludovic XVI style.

NICU CEAUSESCU SUITE

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: Nicu Ceausescu was one of the dictators sons, his bedroom is open for public in the Ceausescu mansion and has little to do with his personality since he was a rebel from childhood and died in 1996 at only 45 years old from cirrhosis

ZOE CEAUSESCU FLAT

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: This is Zoia flat, Ceausescu daughter where she lived before moving out with her husband and then arrested in 1989 until August 1990 for the only reason that she was who she was while she had no political interests or influence, being more interested in Mathematics, books and Arts

ZOE CEAUSESCU BATHROOM

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: All the bathrooms in Ceausescu mansion were a dream for almost all Romanians and Zoia Ceausescu bathroom is a decent place for the daughter of a head of state and is also open for public

CEAUSESCU SPARE TIME

What is known about Ceausescu’s private life is that he had rarely lunch at home with his wife and then had a two hours sleep after spending some relaxing moments together playing backgammon. He used to accuse Elena of cheating during the game. They did not have time for these moments during week time, but in week-ends, they spent time together playing social games and singing Romanian folklore songs. And about tv, it was indeed difficult to watch because there were only two hours to see the greatness of communism in Romania. People had now hot water, food, or tv. Yet, Ceausescu had a tv made in Netherlands.

CEAUSESCU FAMILY NAP ROOM

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: From time to time Ceausescu family gathered together after lunch and used to spend some time playing chess of other social games in their Spring Palace

CEAUSESCU TV SET

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: The most powerful man in Romania between 1965 and 1989 and his family had an ordinary tv from Netherlands

WHAT DID CEAUSESCU WEAR

Nicolae Ceausescu had about 20 suits he used to wear. Employees brought him magazines from Western Europe, he would chose and, then, the suits were made in Romania. He also chose what to wear every day, never the same suit. Yet, after cleaning, he wore a suit after a week or two. It is also known that he never came to breakfast from the bedroom in pajamas or robe, but always dressed ready to go. He also hated when factories or different brands sent him clothes and often refused them and sent them back.

For Elena Ceausescu used to work a woman who made clothes for the Royal Family, she brought her magazines from Germany and France and she also chose what to wear. They were very careful with their clothes when going to sleep. All put at right places to pe taken to cleaning. Underwear was first of all cleaned by Elena Ceausescu and, then, sent to official cleaning. Many of their clothes were stolen by ordinary people in 1989, during the Revolution, together with paintings, tv sets and many other things. Yet, Ceausescu wardrobe can be seen today and also their suits, shoes and so on. People who entered the house in 1989 did not know where was the dressing because of a false wall and so, all the dictator’s clothes were saved.

CEAUSESCU WARDROBE

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: Ceausescu family wardrobe is still full of clothes though many of them were sold at auctions during time and although it was said that they wore a pair of clothing one time and than throw it away, this is actually not true

ELENA CEAUSESCU SHOES

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: These are the favorite Elena Ceausescu’s shoes or what was left after the crowd entered the Spring Palace in 1989 during the Revolution and, as witnesses say, she knew how to suit clothes and colors

CEAUSESCU COUPLE BEDROOM

Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu had two dogs Labrador, cats were not allowed in the house for the dictator hated cats. The two dogs used to sleep in their bedroom. It is also known that Elena would sleep on the yellow side of the bed and Nicolae on the blue side. Although Elena had her own private flat, she only rest there some times in the afternoon. The two dogs died after starving because they would not accept food from anyone else except Nicolae Ceausescu who was killed in December 1989.

NICOLAE AND ELENA BEDROOM

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: The walls of Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu flat is upholstered with flowers and from the dressing inside you could get to the bathroom and in the winter garden while on the couch sat the two dogs of the family

CEAUSESCU AND THE GOLDEN BATHROOM

Your last stops during visiting Ceausescu house in Bucharest on Spring Boulevard No 50 will be their famous bathroom which was said to have a lot of gold in it and the pool. Naturally, after the Great Revolution in 1989, people found out from media that Ceausescu had golden cutlery. New discoveries certified that the dictator’s family used some times silver cutlery and there were no golden such things in their kitchen. Yet, no one knows whether there was gold in the house and was stolen in 1989 or not. It is also clear that the bathroom had no golden taps. The accessories were indeed sent to the Romanian National Bank to give them some golden powder once a year. Ceausescu house in Bucharest has also SPA, wellness and so on, including jacuzzi and Scottish shower. Ordinary people could only dream about something like that.

NICOLAE AND ELENA CEAUSESCU BATHROOM

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu bathroom was said to have been full of gold which was proved to be not right while it is indeed a large room comparing to ordinary flats in communist blocks

CEAUSESCU GOLDEN BATHROOM

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: The bathroom of Ceausescu couple was not full of gold as urban legends said but it was indeed blown with gold

Ceausescu family had also a pool which can be visited, but you are not allowed to film, only photos. And also a winter garden where you can see the nap place of the president when outside was snowy and in the hardest years for the people, from 1980 to 1989 winter was winter. As far as I remember, in 1989 I was only 9 ya, it was cold in all the blocks of flats, there was no food unless you knew someone at the store which was under the party/state control, nothing was ok. According to some sources, Elena Ceausescu knew that people were not living decently though she said that nobody died from starving. It is not known whether Nicolae Ceausescu knew or not about the population everyday fighting to find something to eat at the state store, some say he knew, others say he was not informed. The Communist regime in Romania collapsed in December 1989. On December 16, 1989, Nicolae Ceausescu went hunting and came to Snagov House. He was to go to Iran in an official visit. In the evening of December 16, just a day before Revolution broke in Timisoara, he asked the woman that took care of Ceausescu House for more than 20 years, for a glass of tzuica, the official Romanian drink, let’s say. Then, he surrounded a walnut in the garden and left. Ten days later he was dead, executed together with his wife for high treason against the people. Their subordinates, also called the new reformers took the power and so the Revolution ended. Many stories of the bloodbath in 1989 are to be seen at the Revolution Heroes Cemetery.

CEAUSESCU POOL

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: Ceausescu pool is 70 meters square and for the walls there were used 1 M pieces of mosaic while it also has a terrace outside made following a terrace of the Cuba communist leader Fidel Castro

CEAUSESCU WINTER GARDEN

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: The winter garden is a place inside the Ceausescu mansion with exotic plants and the walls have Venetian mosaic with the Greek goddess of wealth and it was the favorite place of the dictator

House of Ceausescu in Bucharest can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 A.M. to 17 P.M. Their official site is here.