Carol Park, Bucharest

Carol Park (Romanian: Parcul Carol) is a public park in Bucharest, Romania, named after King Carol I of Romania. For the duration of the communist regime, it was called Liberty Park (Parcul Libertăţii).

The Giant

The park was designed by French landscape artist Édouard Redont in 1900 on Filaret Hill and inaugurated in 1906. The park had an initial surface area of 360,000m², with a 20,000m² lake in the middle. It is officially recognized as a historical monument and is therefore protected by law. Administration of the park is undertaken mostly by the Bucharest City Hall, whereas monuments are in the care of the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Aside from its beautiful vegetation and panoramic views, the park also includes several monuments, such as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a mausoleum where some of Romania's most prominent Communist leaders were buried until the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Other attractions include the Cantacuzino Fountain, the Giants' Statues, the Zodiac Fountain, the Technical Museum (first opened in 1909), a monument in the shape of a small mosque built in 1923 as a sign of reconciliation, the open-air Roman Arena, and the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy.

Zodiac Fountain

The Carol Park Mausoleum (Mausoleul din Parcul Carol), known during the Communist régime as the "Monument of the Heroes for the Freedom of the People and of the Motherland, for Socialism", is located on a plateau. Formerly, it was the site of the Arts Palace (Palatul Artelor) and later of the Military Museum (Muzeul Militar), with the fountain in front of the latter museum. The mausoleum was built in honour of revolutionary socialist militants. Designed by architects Horia Maicu and Nicolae Cucu, it was inaugurated on December 30, 1963, the 16th anniversary of the Romanian People's Republic.

Prior to the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the rotunda contained the crypts of Communist leaders. In the semicircle around the monument were crypts containing the remains of a number of socialist militants. To the right of the monument was a hemicycle containing the funeral urns of Communist militants. When it was built, an eternal flame burned on an upper terrace near the monument, in a granite amphora. This was intended to preserve the memory of those who had fought on behalf of the working class.



Carol Park Mausoleum

In 1991, the mausoleum acquired a new purpose when the Communists were exhumed and interred in other cemeteries. They were replaced by the remains of soldiers fallen in World War I, brought from the Mărăşeşti Mausoleum. The mausoleum and the monument in front of it were dedicated to the Unknown Soldier. The rotunda remains closed to the public, and guards are stationed to prevent the approach of visitors.

From Wikipedia.
Panorama from www.360trip.ro.