Photos

Bucharest, a city of contrasts.

As in my previous post, here is another impressive landmark of the city, a piece of heritage from the communist era. This is the "Casa Presei Libere" (The House of the Free Press) which houses many of Romania's national newspaper agencies and news publications. The Romanian Stock Exchange is also located in this complex. The impressive structure was completed in 1956 in the Soviet Socialist Realism style and became known as "Casa Scanteii", literally meaning "The House of the Spark". It was the headquarters of "Scanteia" or "The Spark", the Romanian Communist Party's official newspaper, which was Romania's only newspaper during the communist regime. In 1960 a large statue of V.I. Lenin was placed in front of the main building. Immediately after the 1989 violent uprising, the statue was brought down and all that remains is the dark red marble base. The complex lies on a major intersection in the beautiful northern end of Bucharest, next to the large Herastrau Park.

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