Ceaușescu's Bucharest: House, Square, Palace in One Day (December 1989)

Day planner: book first, order second

Answer 9 questions for a reasoned route. Steps marked ⚠️ are conditional — this page never implies availability.

Stop 1 · Casa Ceaușescu, the House (of-residence)

The relation is of-residence: a private residence 1965–1989 (official), not a December site. It answers “where power lived”, not “what happened in December 1989”.

• Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10:00–17:00; closed Mondays + legal holidays (official).
• Guided visits only, in Romanian or English; 45-min tour + 25-min “One History” film (official).
• Timed ticket online: date + slot + checkout; groups over 10: phone +40 213 180 989 plus online booking (official).
• Photos and videos strictly forbidden; no wheelchair access; no strollers; free under 7 (official).
• Ticket office closes 45 min early; last tour 17:00 (official).
• Price pointer: tour + film 115 lei (current official price, 2026-09-17; the official site keeps the old 90 lei struck through). Full new/old mapping on the sources page, S1.
• Address: Bd. Primăverii 50. Buses 335/331/301/131/330/282 (Piața Charles de Gaulle stop); Aviatorilor metro; booking help +40 725 33 33 30 (official contact page). Entrance coords 44.4691, 26.0922 (address geocode, planning use).

Official visiting page · Official booking

Leg 1 · House → Revolution Square

4.2 km, about 7 min by car (no traffic, OSRM value, re-measured 2026-09-17); about 50 min on foot (derived: 4.2÷5 km/h); plus a 30-min buffer between legs (planning convention).

Stop 2 · Revolution Square, Piața Revoluției (of-site)

The relation is of-site: the side of the 21 December rally and the 22 December storming + helicopter departure. Free, always open, the hinge between the two interiors.

• Markers: the former CC building side (21st rally + last speech + heckling; 22nd storming + roof helicopter, academic sources H2/H3) + the memorial group.
• Memorial: the 1990 pyramid + the August 2005 complex + ceremonial role (Y&L p.4). Authorship and design data have no institutional source — this page never asserts them.
• Next door: the National Art Museum (Royal Palace) stands right on the square; visit separately, outside this route.
• Square coords 44.4387, 26.0975 (planning use).

Leg 2 · Revolution Square → Parliament

3.0 km, about 8 min by car (no traffic, OSRM value, re-measured 2026-09-17); about 35 min on foot (derived: 3.0÷5 km/h); plus a 30-min buffer between legs (planning convention).

Stop 3 · Palace of Parliament, Palatul Parlamentului (built-under / houses-today)

The relation is built-under / houses-today: ordered under the Ceaușescu regime; in the Uranus clearance around 40,000 people lost their homes (TU Delft graduate thesis p.12, not peer-reviewed; snippet-corroborated by T&F/Cavalcanti + Reuters); today it houses both Chambers, operated by the Chamber of Deputies' conference centre. No completion year (conflicting sources), no “largest” rankings (methodologies differ).

• Hours: daily 9:00–17:00; tickets on site (Str. Izvor 2-4, Brâncuși hall) (official).
• 1–9 people: phone 24 h ahead +40 733 558 102 / 103 (booking line 9:00–16:00); 10+: e-mail at least 3 days ahead to cic.vizite@cdep.ro (official). Tours run subject to availability (official: în limita disponibilității).
• Terrace + basement tours unavailable (re-checked 2026-09-17, official).
• Physical BI/CI/passport original only, no driving licence (MO 456/31.V.2018); arrive 15 min early; security screening; no liquids; leaving the group forbidden (Law 61/1991); decent dress; stairs only, elevators forbidden; no flags or dictatorial/racist symbols (official).
• Price pointer: adults 85 lei (official, 2026-09-17). Students (19–26, stamped card) 55 lei, children (7–18) 40 lei, free under-6s etc. (official).
• Tour languages officially unpublished — confirm the language when booking (never assumed). Tour duration officially unpublished — keep a half-day block (planning convention, not an official promise).
• Visitor-entrance coords 44.4275, 26.0872 (planning use).

Official visiting page (CIC) · Official virtual tour

Four dates to orient this route (not a history)

Only the dates that anchor the route. Each with 2+ sources, with pages.

1. 16 December · Timișoara: mass protest (Y&L p.2; Osiac p.2). First public demos on the 5th (Dragnea, advocacy source, flagged).
2. 21 December · Bucharest: the rally before the CC + last speech + heckling (Y&L p.2; UCV/Davies).
3. 22 December · Bucharest: the HQ stormed; the Ceaușescus leave by helicopter from the CC roof (Y&L p.2; Osiac p.7; HISTORY; Dragnea). The National Salvation Front (FSN) takes power (Y&L p.2; Osiac p.2; Dragnea).
4. 25 December · Târgoviște: military trial (13:20–14:40, Dragnea), then execution by firing squad (HISTORY; Dragnea). Off-route — see the Târgoviște panel.

Omitted: death tolls, provincial protests, state violence, the trial's nature, the later fighting — beyond the orienting minimum, not treated here. Scholarship still debates how to qualify the December 1989 events (Y&L p.2; UCV p.10); this page uses the current academic name “Romanian Revolution” without arbitrating.

Trilingual glossary

Palatul Parlamentului · 议会宫 Yìhuì Gōng · Palace of Parliament

The page's primary name (CIC's own name, S2). Historical-popular gloss: Casa Poporului (人民宫 Rénmín Gōng). Today the seat of both Chambers.

Palatul Primăverii / Casa Ceaușescu · 春季宫 Chūnjì Gōng / 齐奥塞斯库故居 Qí'àosàisīkù Gùjū · Ceaușescu Mansion

The page's primary name is “the former residence / 故居” (fits queries + the official English “Mansion”, S1). Private residence 1965–1989.

PCR · 罗马尼亚共产党 Luómǎníyà Gòngchǎndǎng · Romanian Communist Party

The ruling party before December 1989 (the institutional background of S3/S4/S6).

CC · 中央委员会 Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì · Central Committee

The PCR's Central Committee; its building is the one with the 22nd's departure roof (S3/S4).

FSN · 救国阵线 Jiùguó Zhènxiàn · National Salvation Front

The body taking power in December 1989 (S3/S4/S6). Note: Y&L uses NSF in English; this page uses the current Romanian abbreviation FSN.

Securitate · 秘密警察 Mìmì Jǐngchá · Securitate (secret police)

The secret police of the Socialist Republic of Romania (institutional definition; glossary-only, no individual accusations).

CN edit + Romanian-history second read: in-house read (2026-09-17). All strings, titles, buttons and metadata included, follow one convention.

Questions