2. CALEA VICTORIEI. 2. Along Calea Victoriei, from Regina Elisabeta Boulevard to Piaţa Revoluţiei AUDITORIUMS OLD AND NEW

Transcription

1 2. Along Calea Victoriei, from Regina Elisabeta Boulevard to Piaţa Revoluţiei AUDITORIUMS OLD AND NEW 27

2 28 THE NATIONAL MILITARY CLUB, THE CAPŞA RESTAURANT, THE PALACE OF TELEPHONES, THE CONTINENTAL HÔTEL, THE KREŢULESCU CHURCH, THE ROYAL PALACE, THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE CAROL I UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION, THE THEODOR AMAN MUSEUM, THE ROMANIAN ATHENAEUM, THE ATHENÉE PALACE HÔTEL We turn our back upon the Dâmboviţa and set off from the intersection of Calea Victoriei and the boulevard which today bears the name, as it did when it was inaugurated, of Queen Elisabeta. On 30 December 1947, it was renamed 6th of March (first communist government of Romania) and since 1965 it had been named after communist leader Gh. Gheorghiu-Dej. * The National Military Club On the left-hand corner of the intersection opposite the Grand Hôtel du Boulevard is to be found the monumental building of the National Military Club, constructed in 1912, in the French neo-classical style. The

3 29 plans of the building were drawn up by architects D. Maimarolu, V. Ste phanescu and E. Doneaud. The National Military Club has sumptuous interiors, where, between the two world wars, balls were held, at which all the highsociety of Bucharest gathered. In front of the building, there is a terrace restaurant. The National Military Club often hosts exhibitions of paintings and sculptures by contemporary artists. The National Military Club is built on the site of the Sărindar Church, probably foun ded by Matei Basarab, accor ding to the surviving pisanie (votive stone). The church was rebuilt du ring the reign of Constantine Brâncoveanu. In the late eighteenth century, the sick were brought to the cells around the church, in order to be healed by the miracle-working icon of the Virgin Mary. Destroyed by the It was in front of the Slătineanu houses that the ca pi tal s first public spectacle was held in 1812: a diorama put on by a Saxon named Brody. The people of Bucharest thronged to see fo reign cities, battle scenes, coronations etc. In 1828, an Italian named Momolo founded a theatre here, at which German, French and Italian groups of players performed. On 1 August 1850, the Momolo-Slăti - neanu Theatre was the venue for the first thea trical performance by a Romanian troupe, that of the great actor Matei Millo, with the play earthquake of 1802, rebuilt by the Cocorăscu, Filipescu and Ghika noble families in 1806, and seriously da ma - ged by the earthquake of 1838, the church gradually fell into ruin and was ultimately demolished. In its memory, the people of Bucharest still use the name Sărindar for Constantin Mille Street, which descends to the right of the National Military Club towards Brezoianu Street. On Calea Victoriei, on the other side from Constantin Mille Street, can be found the Capitol Hôtel, built in the early twentieth century. The bottom of the street is dominated by the palace of the Universul newspaper, designed by architect Paul Smărăndescu, built between Crossing the street, we pass on the right a large block of flats, with shops on the ground floor and a small square in front. This block, Edgar Quinet Street and the Capşa Restaurant occupy a site which belonged to the Slătineanu family in the eighteenth century. Old Witch. Around 1830, Momolo bought the houses of the Slătineanu boyars and opened a restaurant there, then a ballroom the famous Momolo or Slătineanu Room, where the nobles of the city attended glitte ring parties. However, the fame of the Slătineanu Room passed, like all things, and on New Street (now Edgar Quinet), which ran through the courtyard of the Slăti neanu houses, there appeared another venue that won the favour of the townsfolk: the Raşca Garden. Located on the site of what

4 30 is now the Ion Mincu Architectural Institute, it was thus named because the locals were unable to pronounce the name of the Garden s proprietor: Hrtscha. In time, the Slătineanu houses changed hands. They were bought by Constantine, son of Dumitru Capşa, a wealthy Romanian from Macedonia, a prosperous furrier and merchant in Lipscani. In 1868, four of Capşa s sons opened a café here. Grigore, the youngest, had learned the trade from the most famous café owner in Paris. In 1881, the Capşa Restaurant was opened, followed soon afterwards by a hotel. The Capşa became the best restaurant in Bucharest, and was to remain so for more than one and a half centuries. For decades, the restaurant was a meeting place for the Bucharest beau monde, and the place where famous foreign guests were invited. It was in this café, during the first half of the twentieth century, that writers and artists conducted interminable discussions. The Capşa Restaurant was renovated in We linger for a moment on the pavement where, in former times, the tables of the restaurant used to be laid, and then we continue for a few paces before reaching the small square in front of the Odeon Theatre (1907 architect Grigore Cerchez).

5 31 Like many parcels of land on Calea Victoriei, this too was once owned by princes. In the early nineteenth century, it was the site of the house of Costake Ghika, son of Dumitru Ghika the Great Ban. In 1812, Caragea Vodă lived here, after ha v- ing been driven out of the New Court on Spirii Hill by the fire that had almost entirely consumed it. After Caragea Vodă (remembered for the great plague that ravaged Bucharest during his reign) left the capital in 1818, it was the residence of Alexandru Şuţu and then Gri go - rie Ghika, rulers of the Romanian Land. Around 1860, the houses entered the possession of the Lahovari family. From 1880, they were the headquarters of the Club of Romanian Youth, a society whose aim was to advance culture among youth. After the so ciety faded into the mists of history, the building was home to the Russian Bookshop. On the left of Calea Victoriei is to be found the Constantin Tănase Variety Theatre, followed by the Palace of Telephones, the first high-rise block in Bucharest (53 metres), built between 1929 and 1934 by American architects Louis Weeks and Walter Froy. Around 1860, the Otete leşanu Hôtel was to be found on this site. In the late nineteenth century, the Lady Oteteleşanu Room was famed for its receptions and balls. After the death of the aged Lady Oteteleşanu, the renowned Oteteleşanu Café opened in the buil ding. Its terrace was a favourite meeting place for Romanian writers. Also on the left, on the other side of Matei Millo Street, could once be found the National Theatre, which was demolished after its bombing in the Second World War. It had been built in , according to the plans of Viennese architect Heft, and had interiors designed by a German architect. The theatre was also home to sculptures and paintings by Romanian artists, works which perished along with the building. A hotel has now been built on the site. The portico of the new structure reproduces the façade of the vanished National Theatre. Opposite the street, where there is now a new block along one side of the square in front of the Odeon Theatre, there used to stand the offices and printing press of L indépendence Roumaine, the newspaper of the Bucharest beau monde. It was on the first floor of this building that the great Lumière projected a number of reels for Bucharest high

6 32 society in 1896, including a specially filmed news item: The Tsar and Tsarina in Paris. A plaque on the wall of the new block commemorates the event. The next building, which is now the Ţăndărică Theatre, was built in 1913 by the Imobiliara company, on the site of the famous nineteenth-century Bossel Room. Saxon upholsterer Bossel bought part of the Ghika building in 1839, in which he inaugurated a ballroom on the first floor. The ballroom was a great success, especially after the glory days of the Momolo Room had waned. Troupes of foreign players also performed here, as well as Matei Millo, who acted in Alecsandri s Lady Chiriţa on 5 August In 1846, great statesman C.A. Rosetti opened a bookshop on the ground floor, which, around 1858, also began to sell wine. The bookshop was a meeting place for writers of the day, especially those connected to the Liberal Party. Resch jewels The building at no. 64 was for a long time the renowned Joseph Resch jeweller s shop, founded in Joseph Resch s heirs, Carol and Heinrich, enhanced the firm s renown, working with famous artists of the day, including sculptor Carol Storck. Resch jewellery was highly prized by the elite of society. On the first floor of the building lived Frenchman Ulysse de Marsillac, a great lover of Bucharest. He had come to Wallachia in 1825, as the preceptor of the Slătineanu children. He taught French at St Sava and was then editor of the La voix de la Roumanie and Le journal de Bucarest newspapers, writing columns on Bucharest high society life. The Resch House was bought in 1875 by wealthy Anglophile entrepreneur Grigore Eliade, who transformed it into the English Hôtel. The Englez Passage is all that now recalls the former hotel. Next to the Resch House, at number 66, there was, before 1900, an elegant hotel and restaurant owned by Frenchman Donat Hugues. The Hugues Restaurant had been founded before By 1877, the Hugues Hôtel had forty rooms. In the restaurant, diners were served French, Romanian, German and Russian cuisine. The restaurant was regarded as one of the best in Bucharest. In 1882, the