Romania - Eastern Europe - page 503

happened in 1989 still lingers, when Ceau @ escu gave his last speech to an angry crowd
from the balcony of the Communist Party Central Committee building before
ordering soldiers to open fire and fleeing in his helicopter. To the far north of the
square is the city's landmark hotel, the Athénée Palace Hilton (see “Where to Stay,”
earlier in this chapter); also looking onto the square are the Ateneul Roman and
National Museum of Art (see below). At the southern end of the square is the early-
18th-century Cre $ ulescu Church; behind it, look for the headless statue commemo-
rating heroes lost to the revolution.
Biserica Stavropoleos Dedicated to the archangels Michael and Gabriel,
Stavropoleos (running parallel with Lipscani St.) is one of Romania's most atmos-
pheric churches, a small and gracious place of worship that is especially loved by its
dedicated congregation, drawn by the enlightened and charismatic priest. Now
restored as a monastery, Stavropoleos was built in 1724 by Ioanikie Stratonikeas (fres-
coed on the left as you enter the church), a Greek monk who came to Bucharest to
raise funds for his hometown monastery. Today, it's in the hands of five hardworking
nuns; they look after an impressive library with a collection of old manuscripts and
spend time transcribing Cyrillic musical scores electronically. For one of the best intro-
ductions to Orthodox church symbolism, ask to see the exhibition of icons and litur-
gical objects which the nuns have laid out to simulate a traditional church plan; your
guiding nun will explain the meaning of each icon and elaborate on its particular sig-
nificance. Try to attend Mass here at least once; rites are held every morning (7:30am)
when the choir consists of female voices, while on Wednesdays at 4:30pm, it's an all-
male performance of the Byzantine-style chorus.
Str. Stavropoleos. & 021/313-4747. Free admission. Daily 7:30am-6pm.
Ateneul Român (Romanian Athenaeum) Recognized as one of the loveli-
est architectural works in Bucharest, the Romanian Athenaeum is something of an
urban fulcrum, marking out the cultural and social center of the city; inaugurated in
1888, it was designed by French architect Albert Galleron (who also conceived the
shapely National Bank of Romania in the Lipscani District). Facing the Royal Palace
and standing adjacent the Athénée Palace Hilton hotel, the lovely exterior is matched
by interior frescoes and mosaics. The most wonderful way to experience the Athenaeum
is to attend a concert in the 1,000-seat auditorium; intensify the experience by choos-
ing a performance of the Philharmonic George Enescu, the city's premiere orchestra,
named for the nation's greatest composer who debuted here in 1898.
Entrance Str. Benjamin Franklin 1-3. & 021/315-2567 or 021/315-8798. Daily 1:30-4pm.
Muzeul Na$ional de Artâ Romania's National Museum of Art, opposite
the Ateneul Roman, consists of three different collections, exhibited in part of the
expansive former Royal Palace on Pia $ a Revolu $ iei. Of these, the most important are
the Gallery of Romanian Medieval Art (almost exclusively devoted to icons, images,
and carved objects related to religious pursuits), on the first floor, and the Gallery of
Romanian Modern Art, above it. The latter provides a thorough overview of the evo-
lution of 19th- and 20th-century painting and sculpture, working almost chronolog-
ically over two floors. It's an excellent place to discover the work of Gheorghe
Tattarescu (1818-94), Theodor Aman (whose 19th-c. street scenes of popular tourist
towns provide an excellent comparative study for some of the places you might visit),
Karl Storck, Ioan Andreescu, sculptor Frederick Storck (look out for his fabulous The
Mystery, 1925), the marvelous Impressionist ! tefan Luchian (1868-1916), and Theodor