Revoluției Square

Revolution Square is one of Bucharest's most significant public spaces, covering about 12,000 square meters in the city's 1st district. Previously known as Palace Square, Republic Square, or Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Square, it took its current name after becoming the central stage of the December 1989 Revolution. The square is surrounded by buildings of major historical and architectural value: the Royal Palace (now the National Museum of Art of Romania), the Romanian Athenaeum, the National Military Circle, the Palace Hall (Sala Palatului), and the "Carol I" Central University Library, which was severely damaged by fire in December 1989 and later rebuilt, reopening to the public in 2001. On 21 December 1989, from the balcony of the former Romanian Communist Party Central Committee headquarters — a building on one side of the square, later home to the Senate (1990) and, since 2006, the Ministry of Internal Affairs — Nicolae Ceaușescu delivered his last public speech, interrupted by jeers and protests that marked the beginning of the communist regime's collapse. The 1989 Romanian Revolution brought down the communist regime and claimed more than 1,100 lives nationwide (some estimates run as high as 1,500). At the center of an open 600 sqm area paved with marble and granite stands the Rebirth Memorial, unveiled in August 2005, designed by Alexandru Ghilduș. Its centerpiece is a 25-meter marble pillar pierced by a metal "crown" — a monument that sparked considerable controversy over its symbolism and aesthetics, popularly nicknamed "the potato on a stick." The square also holds a memorial cross, placed where Ceaușescu gave his 21 December 1989 speech. The square is reached via Piața Universității and Piața Victoriei metro stations, as well as numerous bus and tram lines. Worth visiting for its exceptional concentration of historical, architectural, and memorial landmarks in one place, offering direct context for understanding the events of December 1989.