Romanian Athenaeum
Ateneul Romรขn
Interesting facts
- The rotunda was raised on the foundations of an abandoned riding school begun by the Romanian Equestrian Society.
- Albert Galleron got the commission on the recommendation of Charles Garnier, architect of the Paris Opera.
- The dome rises about 41 metres, while the round concert hall beneath it is 28.5 metres across and 16 metres high.
- Five mosaic medallions on the facade portray Romanian rulers, among them Neagoe Basarab, Alexandru cel Bun, Vasile Lupu, Matei Basarab and Carol I.
- Costin Petrescu painted the great fresco between 1933 and 1939, dividing Romanian history into 25 scenes.
- The hall's organ was built by E. F. Walcker of Ludwigsburg and inaugurated on 22 April 1939.
- In 1948 the fresco was hidden behind red velvet during a Communist party congress to mask the monarchy's role, and stayed covered until 1966โ67.
- The building has appeared on Romanian banknotes three times: on the 100 lei of 1966, the 50,000 lei of 2001 and the 5 lei of 2005.
- Construction itself moved quickly: work began in October 1886 and the hall opened in February 1888.
Why it is worth it
In the heart of Bucharest, on Calea Victoriei, a domed rotunda fronted by a classical portico serves as the city's most prestigious concert hall. The Romanian Athenaeum is a compact, ornate building, round in plan and crowned by a tall dome, and it has become one of the defining images of the Romanian capital. It is home to the George Enescu Philharmonic and the principal stage of the George Enescu Festival.
The building was the project of the Romanian Athenaeum Cultural Society, founded in 1865 by a circle of scholars and public figures including Constantin Esarcu, V. A. Urechia and Nicolae Kretzulescu, who wanted a home for the arts and sciences in the capital. Part of the money was gathered through a public subscription that lasted 28 years, remembered for its slogan asking every citizen to give one leu for the Athenaeum. The design came from the French architect Albert Galleron, and the hall was raised on land that had belonged to the Vฤcฤrescu family. It was inaugurated in 1888, although work continued until 1897. The style is essentially neoclassical, with a romantic flourish in the details, and a small park with a statue of the poet Mihai Eminescu lies in front of it.
Inside, the circular auditorium seats 600 in the stalls, with further places in 52 boxes, while the ground floor holds a richly decorated conference hall of similar size. Running around the inner wall of the concert hall is a fresco by Costin Petrescu, 75 metres long and 3 metres high, painted in true fresco technique, that narrates Romanian history from Trajan's conquest of Dacia to the union of 1918. The building has its own place in that story: in December 1919 it hosted the gathering that ratified the union of Bessarabia, Transylvania and Bukovina with the Old Kingdom. In 2007 the Athenaeum received the European Heritage Label.
Bucharest itself, the largest city in Romania, grew from a princely seat of Wallachia into a capital known for its broad boulevards and late nineteenth-century buildings in the French manner, a period of which the Athenaeum is one of the finest survivors.
Getting there
The Athenaeum stands in central Bucharest, about 1.2 km from the city centre. The nearest airport is Bucharest Bฤneasa Aurel Vlaicu (BBU), about 7 km away; the city's main international airport, Henri Coandฤ (OTP) at Otopeni, lies 16.5 km north of the centre.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Romanian Athenaeum is a concert hall in the center of Bucharest, Romania, and a landmark of the Romanian capital city. Opened in 1888, the ornate, domed, circular building is the city's most prestigious concert hall and home of the "George Enescu" Philharmonic and of the George Enescu Festival.
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