Palace of Parliament

Yet another magnificent building from the time of Romania’s most iconic leader, Nicolae Ceauşescu, the Palace of Parliament embodies the political laurels upon which the country rebuilt itself. After the Pentagon, it is the largest administrative building in the world and still undergoing construction. The palace is also the heaviest building weighing over 9 billion pounds. It is a quality that reflects from its appearance. On its exterior, colonnaded sections and arched windows lend an ornate look to an otherwise plain facade. They add weight to the building’s formidable first impression.

Built as part of Ceauşescu’s over extensive urban planning program, the Palace of Parliament is, to its bones, gilded with national pride. Almost every single material used in its construction is of Romanian origins, except for the splendid doors of Nicolae Bălcescu Hall, which were a gift to the communist leader. A tour of the palace takes you on a journey through 20th-century royal luxury embellished with tonnes of crystal, cascading chandeliers, velvet, silver, and gold. The unabashed extravagance is most happening in the elegant halls, where the most vital gatherings took place in Ceauşescu’s Romania.

Each year, the palace sinks 6 millimeters into the ground because of its extreme weight. For all that, its ever-living glamor never seems to fade. A long and translucent courtyard reaches up to the white-washed monumental structure in the front. It provides a rather resplendent passage to its grand entrance hall.