When you look at this building, the first thought that comes to mind is that you already know that it is the largest building in Europe, and the second in the world after the Pentagon, as an area of 335,000 square meters, but only now do you realize what it means this thing. You have in mind the building seen in the pictures on the Internet, seen from afar, but as you get closer, it gets bigger and bigger, and you will feel smaller and smaller when you get next to it.
Construction of the building began in 1983, and later, on June 25, 1984, Nicolae Ceaușescu laid the foundation of a metal cylinder containing a parchment signed and reinforced with a seal, and then symbolically placed a cement canopy on it. what was then called the House of the Republic, later called the House of the People, and now the Palace of Parliament.
The Parliament Palace has a length of 270 meters, a width of 245 meters, has 9 above-ground floors with a height of 86 meters, but also 9 underground floors with 92 meters below ground level. The built-up area is 66,000 square meters.
20,000 workers, 5,000 soldiers, 700 architects, and an “army” of “volunteers” worked in difficult conditions, in 3 shifts for 7 years.
The building has about 1,000 rooms, of which 440 offices, over 30 halls and halls, 4 restaurants, 3 libraries, two parking lots and a concert hall.
The estimated costs of the Parliament Palace building at the time of 1989 were $ 1.75 billion, and in 2006 they were updated to € 3 billion.
The Chamber of Deputies (since 1994), the Romanian Senate (since 2004), but also other institutions such as the Romanian Constitutional Court or the National Museum of Contemporary Art operate in the Parliament Palace building.
The lobbies of the Parliament Palace are flanked by carved columns, imposing staircases, all made of white marble.
