Académique Documents
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7-8 hours
Location
The city of Bucharest, Romania's capital, is situated in the south of the
country, in the center of Romanian Plain, at an average altitude of 70-80 m
and at about 60 km from the Danube, 100 km from the Carpathians and
250 km from the Black Sea.
Short description
288 kmp in surface and about 2.000.000 in population, Bucharest is
nowadays the first of the cities of Romania, both in size and importance
(political, economical, financial, commercial, cultural-scientific, touristic,
etc.).
The city is crossed by the Dambovita river (on a distance of 24 km) and its
tributary, Colentina river. The climate of Bucharest is continental-moderate,
with an average annual temperature of 10C.
A little history
According to the legend, a shepherd named Bucur, whose name has
evolved into Bucuresti, founded the town. The official document in which
the city is for the first time mentioned, dates from the 20th September
1459 and was issued by Vlad Tepes Dracula, the king of Valahia at that
time.
In 1859, Bucharest became the capital of the United Principalities.
During November 1916 - October 1918, the city was occupied by the
German army. After the Great National Meeting at Alba-Iulia, on 1st of
December 1918, Bucharest became the capital of Great Romania, having a
spectacular economical, banking and cultural flourishment.
Due to the many beautiful buildings in neoclassical style and to an elegant
and rich way of life until the beginning of the Second World War, the town
has truly deserved the nickname of "the little Paris of the East".
In December 1989, the city of Bucharest was one of the main centers of
the Revolution that ended in the crumbling of the communist system in
Romania.
Hilton Hotel - the former Athenee Palace Hotel built in 1883 and the
highest building in Bucharest at that time.
Rubens. During the fighting in December 1989, 448 works of art were
destroyed or went missing and another 716 were damaged. A total of 18
valuable paintings were generously restored and cleaned by museums in
the Netherlands, USA, Italy and France.
Prices do not include entrance fees to the places that will be visited (aprox.
15 Eur/pers.) and the lunch (aprox. 15 Eur/pers.).
The tour usually starts at 10 am in front of the hotel and ends at 6-7 pm in
the same place.
Price for licenced tour leader, tour guide : 40euro. (full day)