Revolution Square
Revolution Square features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Bucharest. Give it roughly ~30 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type square
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Bucharest Bucharest guide
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About Revolution Square
The square where the 1989 Revolution turned against Ceaușescu, ringed by the former royal palace, the Athenaeum and the balcony of his last speech, with a white marble memorial to those who died.
Revolution Square, Piața Revoluției, on Calea Victoriei, was called Palace Square until 1989. Around it stand the former Royal Palace, now the National Museum of Art, the Romanian Athenaeum, the Central University Library, and the former Central Committee of the Communist Party, from whose balcony Nicolae Ceaușescu gave his last speech. It takes its name from the December 1989 Revolution that ended communism in Romania.
On 21 December 1989 Ceaușescu addressed a mass rally here; a minute in, the crowd turned against him, the live broadcast was cut, and within a day he had fled by helicopter. He and his wife were caught, tried and executed on 25 December. Across the country around eleven hundred people died in the upheaval. In the square the white marble Memorial of Rebirth, unveiled in 2005, commemorates them, and a recreated equestrian statue of King Carol I stands nearby.
Did you know? On 21 December 1989 Ceaușescu's rally speech here collapsed as the crowd turned on him and the live broadcast was cut; he fled by helicopter the next day and was executed on 25 December.
How long is a visit to Revolution Square?
Set aside roughly ~30 min for Revolution Square. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Revolution Square worth your time?
Revolution Square is among the 13 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Bucharest, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Bucharest
Day 1 of the Bucharest in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Revolution Square
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