Bucharest Guide: Palace of the Parliament & Old Town

The Palace of the Parliament, rising on Dealul Spirii hill, is the seat of Romania's Parliament. Ground was broken in 1984 and work finished in 1997 under chief architect Anca Petrescu. It stands 84 metres tall, with 12 floors above ground and 8 below, and its floor area of about 365,000 m² makes it, per Guinness World Records, the world's largest civilian building with an administrative function, as well as the heaviest. Inside are both chambers of Parliament, the Constitutional Court and museums, among roughly 1,100 rooms. Tour times and entry fees are not stated without sourced verification; where we are unsure, we say we don't know. (Source: Wikipedia, Wikivoyage)

The Romanian Athenaeum (Ateneul Român), on Franklin Street in the city centre, is a concert hall and one of Bucharest's landmarks. The society was founded in 1865, the building was inaugurated in 1888 and completed by 1897, to a design by the French architect Albert Galleron. Its style is neoclassical with romantic touches. The 794-seat hall is home to the 'George Enescu' Philharmonic and the George Enescu Festival, and its domed auditorium carries a 75-metre fresco by Costin Petrescu. Concert programmes and ticket prices are not stated without sourced verification; where details are missing, we say we don't know. (Source: Wikipedia, Wikivoyage)

Lipscani was the most important commercial quarter of Bucharest and Wallachia from medieval times into the early 19th century. Its name comes from Lipsca, the old Romanian word for Leipzig, after merchants who imported Western European goods; street names such as Blănari (furriers) and Șelari (saddlers) recall the old guilds. Now largely pedestrianised, the district sits beside the ruins of the Old Princely Court (Curtea Veche) built by Vlad III. Nearby, Stavropoleos Church, founded in 1724, is an Orthodox monastery in the Brâncovenesc style, known for its Byzantine music collection. Opening hours are not stated without sourced verification; where unsure, we say we don't know. (Source: Wikipedia, Wikivoyage)

The Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum is an open-air ethnographic museum inside King Michael I Park (Herăstrău), by Herăstrău Lake. It was inaugurated on 10 May 1936 in the presence of King Carol II, founded by the sociologist and folklorist Dimitrie Gusti. Spread over roughly 100,000 m² (about 10 hectares), it gathers 123 authentic peasant settlements, 363 monuments and more than 50,000 artefacts from Romania's regions. At its opening it was the fourth open-air museum in Europe. Visiting hours and entry fees are not stated without sourced verification; where we are unsure, we say we don't know. (Source: Wikipedia, Wikivoyage)

Bucharest owes its 'Paris of the East' nickname, earned in the late 19th century, to its Belle Époque architecture and cosmopolitan air. The Calea Victoriei boulevard and the Arcul de Triumf, echoing Paris's Arc de Triomphe, survive from that confident era. Between the world wars, broad boulevards, elegant façades and covered passages gave the city its 'Little Paris' identity, a heritage still legible in the streetscape today. Monument visiting times and current arrangements are not stated without sourced verification; where details are missing, we say we don't know. (Source: Wikipedia, Wikivoyage)