Calea Victoriei

Coordinates: 44°26′31.49″N 26°5′38.57″E / 44.4420806°N 26.0940472°E / 44.4420806; 26.0940472
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Calea Victoriei
Bucharest Telephone Palace
Former name(s)Ulița Mare

Drumul Brașovului

Podul Mogoșoaiei
Length2.7 km (1.7 mi)
LocationBucharest, Romania
Nearest metro stationPiața Unirii
Universitate
Piața Victoriei
Coordinates44°26′31.49″N 26°5′38.57″E / 44.4420806°N 26.0940472°E / 44.4420806; 26.0940472
South endSplaiul Independenței [ro]
Major
junctions
Revolution Square
North endVictory Square
Construction
Inauguration1692 (1692)

Calea Victoriei (Victory Avenue) is a major avenue in central Bucharest. Situated in Sector 1, and having a length of 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi), it leads from Splaiul Independenței [ro] (which runs parallel to the Dâmbovița River) to the north and then northwest up to Piața Victoriei, where Șoseaua Kiseleff continues north.

History

The avenue in 1923
Telephone Palace
.

Initially, the road was known as Ulița Mare (Large Street),

Cantacuzenes up to the Sărindari Monastery.[3] Since 1692 it was known as Podul Mogoșoaiei (Mogoșoaia Wood-Paved Road) because it also was connecting the Bucharest's center with Brâncoveanu's Mogoșoaia Palace some kilometres outside the city.[4]

Most roads in the Balkans at that time became muddy in the spring and autumn, and the wood prevented this. Consequently, the road was one of the most important construction works of the area and a source of pride to Bucharesters. The area surrounding the road became the most fashionable part of Bucharest: 35 boyar houses were located on the road itself in 1775.[5]

Podul Mogoșoaiei was the first street in Bucharest to be illuminated with candles during the night, starting July 1814.[6]

The wood was not a very sturdy material and often it was in a bad state, despite being repaired several times (including in 1793 and 1814). During the

Pavel Kiseleff, the commander of the occupation troops, and is today named after him. In 1842 the road was paved with cobblestone. It was later upgraded to asphalt
.

The road was renamed "Calea Victoriei" on October 12, 1878, following the Romanian victory in the Independence War of 1877–1878.[7]

Calea Victoriei was Bucharest's showpiece street in the Interwar period. Tudor Octavian wrote, "this is how the whole of Bucharest would look if we had been allowed…, if its builders had been clever enough…".[8] After roughly half a century of decline, it has recently been returning to this role.

Today, the avenue is lined with new fashion shops, art boutiques, coffee shops and restaurants, making it an upmarket shopping strip in Bucharest.

As of 2023 the association streets for people (in Romanian: Străzi Pentru Oameni) started a petition to make the entire avenue fully pedestrian.

Buildings and monuments

Major buildings and monuments along the street include (from north to south):

The avenue was also long home to the

Romanian National Theater, just north of Palatul Telefoanelor; the departed theatre's façade is replicated by the front of the Bucharest Novotel that opened in summer 2006. The Romanian Athenaeum
is set back slightly from the street, with a small park in between.

The National Museum of Art of Romania (the former Royal Palace) and the University Library across the street from it (both damaged in the

1989 Revolution
) were restored in the 1990s; Palatul Telefoanelor was restored between 1997 and 2005. There has also been an ongoing refurbishment of the street's many hotels, including the Athénée Palace, the Majestic, the Capitol, and the Capșa Hotel; as of 2010, the Grand Hotel du Boulevard is undergoing restoration, while renovation of the Continental and Novotel has been completed.

Notes

  1. ^ Georgescu, p. 121
  2. ^ Ionescu, p. 30
  3. ^ Georgescu, p.137
  4. ^ Georgescu, p.137
  5. ^ Ionescu, p. 9
  6. ^ Ionescu, p. 34-35
  7. ^ (in Romanian) Vlad Ignat, "Povestea unei străzi" Archived 2012-11-10 at the Wayback Machine, Adevărul, October 5, 2012; accessed October 5, 2012
  8. ^ Bucureștiul Interbelic, p. 5 (pages unnumbered).

References

  • —, Bucureștiul Interbelic/Calea Victoriei/Interbellum Bucharest, NOI Media Print,
  • Ștefan Ionescu, Bucureștii în vremea fanarioților (Bucharest in the time of the
    Phanariotes
    ), Editura Dacia, Cluj, 1974.
  • Florian Georgescu et al. Istoria Orașului București, Muzeul de Istorie a Orașului București, 1965

External links