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.

The Mausoleum of Mărăşeşti

Mărăşeşti is a small town in Vrancea County, Romania, situated 20 km north of Focşani. The Battle of Mărăşeşti, (August 6 to September 8, 1917) was a battle fought during World War I between Germany and Romania. The German army, trying to cross the Romanian-Russian front and to occupy the Romanian territories between Siret and Prut rivers, begun a huge offensive in the Mărăşeşti sector. Before launching the attack, the battle was thought to be taken at Nămoloasa, both sides were counting at that moment about 1 million soldiers. Field Marshall August von Mackensen launched an attack on August 6. The fighting lasted until September 8, when both sides ran out of fresh units. The German attempt to crush the last Romanian army led by General Eremia Grigorescu had failed, but the Romanians had not expanded their territory either. The motto of the Romanian Army during the battle was "Pe aici nu se trece" (English: "They shall not pass").



The Mausoleum of Mărăşeşti is a memorial site containing remains of 5,073 Romanian soldiers and officers (identified or not, in crypts or common tombs) killed in the First World War and dedicated to the commemoration of the Battle of Mărăşeşti and Romanian Army members who were killed during the World War I.


The memorial took architects George Cristinel and Constantin Pomponiu 15 years to build and was unveiled on 18 September 1938 by King Carol II. The great basorelief on the exterior of the mausoleum cupola, sculpted by Cornel Medrea and Ion Jalea, are inspired from some episodes from fights from Mărăşeşti.


In the museum from inside the mausoleum, there are exposed flags, arms, guns, projectiles and many other trophies from these fights. In the yard of the Mausoleum there is the section of the Military Museum where there are important documents about these fights.

Here you can find some panoramas inside the Mausoleum.