Bucharest Local Custom Tips by Dabs

Ceausecu's final public moment

I'd highly encourage visitors to Romania to read up on Nicolae Ceausescu, the leader of Romania from 1965 until December 1989, as it will give you an idea of some of the history of the country and explain a lot of what you will still see in Bucharest and Romania.

On December 22, 1989, Ceausescu would give his final speech from the balcony of the Central Committee Building in the Piata Republica (Republican Square), since renamed Piata Revolutiei (Revolution Square). Minutes into the speech the crowd had turned on him and he sought refuge inside the building until the following day when the protestors stormed the building and Ceausescu escaped with his wife via a helicopter, a fateful decision. Within days they were both tried and executed by a firing squad, on Christmas Day, 1989.