CEAUSESCU HOUSE ENTRANCE

CEAUSESCU HOUSE SHORT GUIDANCE

In you plan to visit Bucharest Ceausescu House, you need to make a reservations 24 hours before. You can do that by phone or online. There are simple guidance tours for 85 RON and private tours for 295 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. After that you will get in the living room. Then, you will see Nicu and Zoe’s suits at the first floor.  Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu bedroom and bathroom are included, also their wardrobe. The last stops are at the pool and the winter garden.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN AND WHAT NOT

The short guidance in Romanian or English will introduce you rather shortly in the dictator’s family private life. That is because time is running and there are many things to see. You will hardly learn important details like the Romanian hard life during the Communist period. 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. The pieces of furniture were made in Romania

Less known is that Nicolae Ceausescu rarely worked from home. He used hhis private space for conversations with different heads of secret services. Here he used to listen to his advisors, teachers or Communist party leaders. Actually, according to the book At Ceausescu’s court, by Maria Dobrescu, few people entered this house. Nobody, not even the employees, could stay over the night. That was forbidden. Ceausescu used to leave the Spring Palace at about 8 or 9 every morning.

DICTATOR CEAUSESCU WORKTABLE

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Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: At his desk in his work room Ceausescu rarely solved state issues. Here he took instead 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. In his youth, Ceausescu was a simple shoemaker assistant. Yet, he proved to be not ignorant 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. Here he used to play chess with other Communist leaders.

CEAUSESCU CHESS BOARD

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Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: Here Ceausescu played chess with the heads of the repression structures. The dictator always won for nobody dared to play better than him

CEAUSESCU BREAKFAST

Ceausescu family’s house in Bucharest was, initially, built for the former Communist leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej in the 60’s in the exclusive district called the Spring district. It was here where many of the Communist leaders, the so-called nomenklatura, had houses put at their disposal by the state.

Both Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu used to eat the same dishes. And they both hated food to be thrown away. The party employees used to bring their food from the Party’s kitchen. Ceausescu had also a personal cook. Ceausescu family was not a fancy food lover. A woman who took care of them and of the Spring Palace for more than 20 years said that. For breakfast, the Ceausescu couple would usually order two slices of Prague ham. They also had two slices of salami, 200 g cheese and a bottle of milk. Sometimes, Nicolae Ceausescu had to work from other residence, at Snagov. Here, the Communist Party had a farm. So he took eggs directly from the chickens shelter and asked the employees for omelette.

CEAUSESCU LUNCH

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. They also ate tomatoes soup and cutlet with vegetables two days consecutively with no problem. Both Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu used to eat salad soup with borsch. They liked 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. Ceausescu rarely used to drink, only homemade cherry brandy or the Romanian tzuica. He never drank coffee, nor ate chocolate.

CEAUSESCU DINNER

They did not eat much at dinner. Only 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 came from the Party 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. They 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. It has Renaissance style decorations. Architects used Ruschita marble, extremely valuable. The carpet came from Cisnadie. To buy something from that factory, ordinary people had to wait for more than five years. If they were members of the Communist Party, they could do that easier indeed.

VALENTIN CEAUSESCU STORY

Valentin will remain in history as the one who led the football team, Steaua Bucharest to a huge success. As manager, he ruled the club 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. Otherwise  people could watch tv only 2 hours a day at news. Actually it was propaganda about how great communism was and how Nicolae Ceausescu was the most beloved ruler.

CEAUSESCU AND CHRISTMAS

In 1989, Valentin went to his father at the Communist Party headquarters and asked him to resign. Because the Revolution had begun. It was a few days before Nicolae and Elena were executed on Christmas day. It is interesting that the regime did not tolerate religion and the church. Yet, Ceausescu believed to be an atheist, 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: Valentin was the elder Ceausescu sons

WHEN NIXON VISITED BUCHAREST CEAUSESCU HOUSE

Your next stop the visit of Bucharest Ceausescu House 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. They were 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 Richard Nixon

How did Nixon visit Romania? Well, in 1967 Ceausescu met Nixon at Bucharest when he was only a secretary of state. The ceremony was great for the future president. Nixon did not forget that. In 1969 he came to Bucharest and made Ceausescu one of the most popular communist leaders worldwide. Ceausescu praised POTUS and said that Nixon had more healthy social origins that many communists. He worked in his youth as a vegetables seller while his wife was the daughter of a miner. Nixon said that in Romania he had the most touching experience in 50 external state visits. It was the first visit of a US President in a communist country after the GREAT. 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. 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. When he was 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. Now, 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.

By: BUCHAREST-TRAVEL.COM
Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: Nicu Ceausescu bedroom 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

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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. She had little to do with politics, being more interested in Mathematics, books and Arts

ZOE BATHROOM IN BUCHAREST CEAUSESCU HOUSE

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Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description:  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.

WARDROBE IN BUCHAREST CEAUSESCU HOUSE

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

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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, but no cats in the house for the dictator hated cats. The two dogs used to sleep in their bedroom. 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.

NICOLAE AND ELENA BEDROOM

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Photographed In: Bucharest, Romania
Date Uploaded:2023-09-18
Description: The walls of Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu flat are upholstered with flowers

CEAUSESCU AND THE GOLDEN BATHROOM

Your last stops during visiting Ceausescu house in Bucharest on Spring Boulevard No 50 will be their famous bathroom. Ordinary people believed it had a lot of gold in it. 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 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 

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. And also a winter garden where you can see the nap place of the president when outside was snowy. 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 years old, 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.

BUCHAREST CEAUSESCU HOUSE AND THE REVOLUTION

According to some sources, Elena Ceausescu knew that people were not living decently. Though she said that nobody died from starving. It is a secret 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 that secret servecies did not let him know. 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 leave for 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. This is the official Romanian drink, let’s say. Then, he surrounded a walnut in the garden and left.

THE END OF THE REGIME

Ten days later soldiers executed him together with his wife for high treason against the people. Their subordinates, who called themselves 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 they used 1 M pieces of mosaic. It also has a terrace outside just like 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 rare plants. The walls have Venetian mosaic with the Greek goddess of wealth and it was the favorite place of the dictator

You can visit House of Ceausescu in Bucharest from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Their official site is here.