We take advantage of the mildness of winter and we resume our walks through the neighborhood with streets with names of capitals and countries. If until now we have used Victoriei Square or Aviatorilor Boulevard as a landmark or starting point, this time we come with a slightly modified route.
And to reach Rome Street we will start from Charles de Gaulle Square, a generous space, a huge roundabout at the crossroads of large boulevards. We will walk on Calea Dorobanți, one of the exclusive areas of the Capital, with spacious sidewalks and road directions separated by a generous “green strip”. Thus we will have the opportunity to admire the elegant buildings in the area, many of them being classified as historical monuments. We will overcome the temptation to enter the shops with fabulous windows or to enjoy a hot drink at one of the many cafes on Calea Dorobanți and we will go to Rome.
On our way, we will have the opportunity, across from the headquarters of the Romanian Television, to admire a work signed by the sculptor Mihai Buculei: the statue of Simon Bolivar.
To Rome
From the Romanian Television, we will immediately reach Dorobanți Square, where, in a semicircle, a park dedicated to the sculptor Constantin Brâncuși opens in front of the tourist.
From this park, the streets of Andrei Mureșanu, Sofia, Paris and … Rome split radially.
Rome Street has an end in Dorobanți Square, it intersects Hague, Washington, Bern, Oslo and Tokyo streets, and another end meets Iancu de Hunedoara Boulevard, at an intersection where Căderea Bastiliei Street arrives too. Moreover, Căderea Bastiliei Street continues, until the Roman Square, the line drawn by Rome Street. In this way the connection is made between two important landmarks of the city.
But let’s stop on Rome Street, a place that seems to be taken from a mysterious and romantic world. Despite the winter that stripped the trees of the thick foliage, Rome Street enchants us through its buildings, many of them historical monuments. The houses here have coquettish courtyards, ennobled with abundant vegetation and tall trees that, during the summer, intertwine their crowns forming a kind of roof.
We discover Horia Creangă, Tiberiu Niga and Ion D. Berindey
As we walk on Rome Street, from Dorobanți Square, we have the opportunity to discover at number 63 a robust three-storey building, built between 1935-1936. The impressive building is known as the “Nedioglu building” and was built according to the plans of the architect Horia Creangă.
Discovering this construction, we can see “live” the style of one of the great architects of Romania. Horia Creangă is considered the promoter of modernism in the Romanian architecture. Creator of the school, Creangă proposes a balanced modernism that valorizes and adapts the traditional solutions in architecture, considering that the simple forms, which he uses in his constructions, are also found in the old Romanian folk art.
Across the street from this building, there is a school building, and the fence separating the court and the sports field covers a good distance on the side with even numbers.
At number 48, the building, also a historical monument, is under reconstruction. Surely, in the summer, we can admire here a nice house with art – deco items.
The mystery note that dominates Rome is reinforced both by the architectural mix (predominantly Neo-Romanian alternating with the neoclassical and Mediterranean), as well as by the street branches. Thus, near the numbers 41, 43-45 and 47, the neo-Romanian buildings form small entrances, like squares, to allow access to other houses with duplicate numbers. Also, continuing on to Rome, near number 17, we find the Rome Entrance, a street with a few Mediterranean-style buildings.
Rome is a street rich in buildings bearing the signature of well-known architects, and a walk through this area represents a real privilege for the tourist passionate about this area.
Thus, at number 35 we admire a beautiful luminous villa, in neo-Romanian style, with windows framed with laced masonry arches. The building was made by the architect Tiberiu Niga, another leading representative of the modernist architecture, the author, among others, of the residential complex in the Palace Square. And this villa, like its neighbor from the number 37 are classified in the category of historical monuments. Also in the category of historical monuments are the buildings from the numbers 28, 22, 20, 15, 14, 7.
At number 14, there is a neo-Romanian villa that was built in 1923 by the architect Ion D. Berindey.
The name of this well-known architect is also related to the Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino Palace (today, George Enescu Museum) located on Calea Victoriei, George G. Assan House (today, House of Scientists) in Lahovary Square.
The building at number 7 is a well-known one in Bucharest, because here was once the headquarters of District tax office. The building still bears the traces of this destination on the frontispiece.
But let’s leave Rome behind and start searching for another story street named after the capital.
Author: Ștefania Enache
Photo: Corina Gheorghe
