Palace of the Parliament
| Palace of the Parliament | |
|---|---|
Palatul Parlamentului | |
The Palace in 2024 | |
Interactive map of the Palace of the Parliament area | |
| Former names | "House of the Republic" |
| Alternative names | "The People's House" |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Postmodern (mainly Neoclassical, described as "Neo-Neoclassical") |
| Location | Strada Izvor 2-4, Bucharest, Romania |
| Coordinates | 44°25′39″N 26°5′15″E / 44.42750°N 26.08750°E |
| Groundbreaking | 25 June 1984 |
| Completed | 1997 |
| Cost | €4 billion euros |
| Height | |
| Architectural | 84 m (276 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Size | 240 m (790 ft) long, 270 m (890 ft) wide |
| Floor count | 12 |
| Floor area | 365,000 m2 (3,930,000 sq ft) |
| Grounds | 66,000 m2 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | 700 architects under the direction of chief architect Anca Petrescu (1949–2013) |
| Designations |
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| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 1,100 |
The Palace of the Parliament (Romanian: Palatul Parlamentului), initially designed during Communist times as the People's House (Casa Poporului) or (less frequently used) the House of the Republic (Casa Republicii), is the seat of the Parliament of Romania, located atop Dealul Spirii in Bucharest, the national capital. The Palace reaches a height of 84 m (276 ft), is 92 m (302 ft) deep underground, has a floor area of 365,000 m2 (3,930,000 sq ft) and a volume of 2,550,000 m3 (90,000,000 cu ft). The Palace of the Parliament is the heaviest building in the world, weighing about 4,098,500 tonnes (9.04 billion pounds), and is the largest civilian administrative building in the world, the largest military administrative building being the yet larger US Pentagon (cf. List of largest buildings). The Independent described it as the third best building in the world, "hideous but also sort of impressive."
The building was designed and supervised by chief architect Anca Petrescu, with a team of approximately 700 architects, and constructed over a period of 13 years (1984–1997) in modernist Neoclassical architectural forms and styles, with socialist realism in mind. The Palace was ordered by Nicolae Ceaușescu (1918–1989), the president of Communist Romania.
Known for its ornate interior composed of 23 sections, the palace houses the two chambers of the Parliament of Romania: the Senate (Senat) and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputaților), the Constitutional Court, along with three museums and an international conference centre. The museums in the Palace are the National Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Museum of the Palace. Though originally named the House of the Republic when under construction, the palace became widely known as the "People's House" after the Romanian Revolution of December 1989. Due to its impressive characteristics, events organized by state institutions and international bodies such as conferences and symposia take place there, but despite this about 70% of the building remains empty.
As of 2020, the Palace of the Parliament is valued at €4 billion, making it the most expensive administrative building in the world. The cost of heating and electricity alone exceeds $6 million per year.
The old Palace of the Chamber of Deputies is now the Palace of the Patriarchate.