The kilometer 0 of the Capital of Romania is marked by means of a monument that I have already mentioned in a previous article. In the area around the monument “Kilometer 0” there are a number of less promoted objectives, which I proposed to bring to the tourist’s attention.
The Latin passage is on our way if we come from the Old Center with the desire to go to the National Theater “I.L. Caragiale” of Bucharest (NTB).
She-wolf statue
Even before entering this passage, once known as Lipscani, we have the opportunity to admire a statue that the Capital of Romania received as a gift, in 1906, from the municipality of Rome.
The She-wolf statue in Bucharest is a faithful copy of the famous Lupa Capitolina, which is said to have been cast in bronze, in the 5th century BC. The statue portrays a wolf in real dimensions (75 cm high and 114 cm long), which is nursing Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome.
Bucharest received this gift from Rome to mark 1800 years since the conquest of Dacia by the Romans, thus celebrating the Latinity of Romania.
The story of the monument in Bucharest is quite complicated because of the events that happened through the years. Initially, the statue was placed on a stone pedestal located in “Roman Arenas”, in Carol I. Park. Later, it was moved through different locations in Bucharest.
In addition, it was stolen several times (either entirely or just Romulus and Remus) and found.
Several legends have been born around these mysterious disappearances. One of them refers to the bets between the students, during the inter-war period being a true title of glory that you can steal the She-wolf. Another legend talks about true conspiracies of the Security, which, in the communist times, used the She-wolf to supervise the people and from here the periodic disappearances and the changes of locations.
Today, the She-wolf admires Bucharest from the height of its pedestal in Rome Square, at a very short distance from the entrance to the Latin Passage, coming from the Old Center.
Latin Passage
And because I mentioned the Latin Passage, this is another objective that you must visit.
Initially called the Lipscani Passage, the construction of this objective lasted quite a long time and began in 1960. The works were delayed due to the fact that the excavations brought to light traces of habitation from the fifteenth century. The passage is used to connect the Rome Square with the Saint George New Church. At the same time, it allows those who want to stop to admire the reproductions of the bas-reliefs carved on Trajan’s Column and thus discover important information about the history of this people.
Once we have crossed the Latin Passage and reached the Saint George New Church it is obligatory to reserve a few moments to admire the huge bronze statue of Prince Constantin Brancoveanu, but also the work “Kilometer 0”.
See you at the museum
From here you can go on the boulevard, to NTB, another tourist objective that we find in this area.
The building of the National Theater “Ion Luca Caragiale” is a true architectural gem. Inside the institution there are real cultural treasures. And when I make such a statement, I’m not just referring to the plays that are played, most of the time, “sold out”. I am referring to the NTB Museum which can make even the most skeptical visitor fall in love with this art, the theatrical one. Currently, the institution is going through a period of redevelopment and is not open to the general public, but surely, when it will open its doors for visitors, it will become an objective sought by tourists eager to discover the story of the Romanian theater.
And in order to satisfy our desire to visit a museum, I recommend the Museum of the University of Bucharest, about which we set out to talk to you soon. You can find it in the left wing of the Law Faculty of the University of Bucharest.
Until you reach the destination you have the opportunity to admire, walking, the beauty of the central area of Bucharest. Basically you go through a circle arch starting from Rome Square to the Palace of the Faculty of Law and thus discover for yourself the history, the theater and the reality from kilometer 0 of the Capital.
Author: Ștefania Enache
Photo: Corina Gheorghe
