Bucharest

Bucharest is the national capital of Romania, set along the Dâmbovița River in the southern plains of the country. Local folklore attributes the name to a shepherd named Bucur, while medieval manuscripts record the settlement as a fortress guarding regional trade passages.

A written decree of Vlad III issued in 1459 marks the first documented mention of the citadel. The Ottoman Empire controlled provincial trade during the 16th and 17th centuries, while Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu established stone halls and monastic foundations built with carved loggias. Political unification of Wallachia and Moldavia resulted in the city becoming the unified national capital in 1862. Extensive urban renewal during the late 19th and early 20th centuries introduced neoclassical boulevards and public gardens patterned after Parisian street designs.

Dacia manufactures passenger automobiles while Rompetrol distributes refined petroleum fuels through regional pipeline networks. Banca Transilvania issues commercial credit lines while BRD Groupe Société Générale manages consumer savings accounts. Bitdefender produces digital security software and Digi Communications delivers fiber broadband connections to domestic subscribers. The University of Bucharest conducts degree programs in jurisprudence, philosophy, and mathematics organized during the 19th century. The national ministries and the High Court of Cassation and Justice sit in the city, a rail junction on the line from the Danube plain to the Black Sea port of Constanța.

The Palace of the Parliament rises 84 m (276 ft) above the city center, containing 12 aboveground floors built of marble, crystal, and native hardwoods. The Romanian Athenaeum presents classical symphonic concerts beneath an ornate domed ceiling decorated with frescoes of national history. The National Museum of Art of Romania displays collections of medieval icons and modern European paintings inside the former royal palace. Cișmigiu Gardens surrounds an artificial lake with wooded walking paths and flower terraces laid out in the 1850s.