Dec 022009
The Palace of Justice was built between the years 1890-1895 in French Renaissance style. It was designed by the French architect Albert Ballu and the interiors were finished by Ion Mincu. What you can see in today’s photo is the main facade, with its six pillars and the law themed statues bearing names like “Law”, “Justice”, “Truth” etc. created by the sculptor Karl Stork. Because it was built on fragile ground on the banks of river Dâmboviţa, the building has been again and again damaged by earthquakes and had to be consolidated many times. The last major restoration took place between the years 2003 and 2006. I still wonder how it escaped the Civic Center demolitions during Ceauşescu’s regime.
Truly a magnificent building! Looks like one that would easily fit in somewhere in Paris!
Lucky us they overlooked it, this is a beautiful building of undeniable and magnificent French design.
It's very attractive at night. Was the Palace of Justice used for a special purpose during Ceausescu's time?
Are earthquakes common in and around Bucharest?
Stine: Sorry, I don't know how I missed answering this. During Ceausescu times it was used as Bucharest main Court House but the dictator built a new (pretty ugly) building that was supposed to replace this one. I've read somewhere that this building was supposed to be demolished in 1990 but as communism regime fell at the end of 1989 the building was spared. The main Court House moved in the new building and the Palace of Justice now houses the Court of Appeals and the Court House for Bucharest's sector no. 5. Bucharest is divided into six administrative "sectors" (sectoare in Romanian), – does this sound communist or what? 🙂 – each of which has their own mayor and council, and has responsibility over local affairs, such as secondary streets, parks, schools and the cleaning services.
Yes, Bucharest lies in an earthquake area and there are small ones every few years and a big one (7 or higher on Richter) every 35-40 years.
The building is very nicely illuminated at night. The French Renaissance style was obviously hugely popular around the turn of the last century all around the world. Buenos Aires is awash with it! So it would easily fit in here as well. (: