Romania 2007

Photos by Adam Jones

The following photos were taken on a monthlong trip through Romania in June 2007.

Photo Gallery 3 - Bucharest (3)

I.

Well, here it is: the "House of the People" (now the Palace of Parliament),
constructed by the Ceausescu dictatorship in the 1980s at a cost of over three billion dollars,
while Romanians suffered and starved. It is the second-largest public building in the world, after
the Pentagon in Washington, DC; and despite its grotesque history, I find it rather stately --
and certainly impressive -- in its way.

II.

From this balcony on what was then the building of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party, Nicolae Ceausescu gave his infamous final speech, on 21 December 1989,
denouncing the rebellion that had broken out in Timisoara in the west of the country. The crowd
booed him down, and he was forced to flee in a helicopter from the rooftop. Security forces
then fired into the crowd, killing dozens. The plaque at bottom left commemorates the youthful
martyrs who "drove out the dictator." Altogether, some 1,500 people died in the Romanian revolution
of 1989.

III.

After fleeing from the Communist Party headquarters, Ceausescu and his wife, Elena,
were captured, summarily tried, and executed by firing squad. He was buried in this grave in
the paupers' section of the Ghencea Civil Cemetery, with Elena's grave nearby. I was told not to
take photos, but I guess I was feeling rebellious ...

IV.

Also in the Ghencea Cemetery.

V.

VI.

An exhibition urges Romanians to recycle.

VII.

VIII.

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