Parliament Palace – known by the name of People’s House, the Parliament Palace has become one of Bucharest city’s symbols. It is entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the second largest public service building in the world, next only to the Pentagon. With a floor space of 330,000 square metres and a volume of 2,550,000 cubic metres, the building is the third largest man-made structure in the world, next to the Cape Canaveral Space Centre in the U.S. AND THE Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl in Mexico.
In the ‘70s, the former Communist President Nicolae Ceausescu made several state visits in Asia. Impressed by the size of the buildings, he came home with the idea of having a similar one built for Romania. The construction of the People’s House started in 1084. In 1089, it was 60% finished. The building works took the effort of 20,000 workers. The design activities required 300 team architects managed by a single woman - Anca Petrescu.
The dimensions of the People’s House are impressive: the façade is 270 m long, the sides are 240 m long, and it is 84 m high and 92 m deep beneath the ground. The structure has 12 floors, 4 basement floors and a nuclear bunker, 1,100 rooms: 440 offices, lounges, and rooms for scientific, cultural and political events. The largest assembly halls measure between 1,000 and 1,500 square metres each. Two of the assembly halls can seat 1,200 and 850 respectively.
The building also has two monumental galleries, 180 m long and 18 m high. The biggest hall is the Union Hall.
All materials used in the construction are of Romanian origin: white, pink or yellow marble brought from Ruschita, Moneasa, Gura Vaii and Alun, and oak and beech wood. For the chandeliers, approximately 3,500 tons of Media’s crystal was brought there. The biggest chandelier weights 3 tons and takes 7,000 bulbs to shine. To look even larger, the lobbies were fitted with crystal doors. As decoration, apart from the arabesque friezes on the walls, a stretchy map of the palace is inlayed in some parts of the marble flooring.
The People’s House accommodates Romania’s Parliament, but also the National Museum of Contemporary Art, which plays host to temporary art exhibition.
Rooms can be rented for various events and upon payment of an admission charge, tourists are provided with guided tours
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