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BD. UNIRII
In 1977, cutremurul produs in zona Vrancea a produs pagube importante in toata tara, inclusiv in Bucuresti, cel mai afectat fiind centrul orasului. Astfel, sub pretextul reconstruirii aceste zone, Ceausescu a ordonat demolarea unui numar semnificativ de cladiri rezidentiale, biserici si nu numai. Insa, noile constructii nu erau altceva decat visul sau de a avea un nou „Centru Civic”, „inspirat” din ceea ce vazuse in vizitele sale in China si Coreea de Nord (la inceputul anilor ’70). Piesa de rezistenta a proiectului urma sa fie (ceea ce astazi este) Palatul Parlamentului, iar axul central – bulevardul dintre Palat si Piata Alba Iulia.
Denumit initial „Victoria Socialismului, bulevardul este orientat pe directia vest – est si este mai lung si mai lat decat Avenue des Champs-Élysées (din Paris), aceasta fiind doar una dintre „indicatiile pretioase” ale lui Nicolae Ceausescu.
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UNIRII BOULEVARD
In 1977, a major earthquake affected Romania and Bucharest’s city center suffered significant damages. For this reason, Ceausescu ordered the demolition of an important number of historic buildings, churches and residential areas. Also, inspired by the Chinese and North Korean urban architecture, he didn’t want to reconstruct anything, but to make way for the new “Civic Center”, a project consisting of Parliament Palace, and large boulevard lined with socialist-realist apartment blocks.
Initially called “Victory of Socialism”, the boulevard is West – East oriented, starts in front of the Parliament Palace (RBBIM Km 0), ends in Alba Iulia Square (RBBIM Km 4) and passes through one of the city’s most important areas – Unirii Square (RBBIM Km 2). The boulevard is longer and wider than Paris’s Avenue des Champs-Élysées – and this was one of Ceausescu’s strongest requests.