About Palace of the Parliament
The Palace of the Parliament, long known as the House of the People, is the heaviest building in the world and one of the largest administrative buildings anywhere: 270 m long, 245 m wide, 84 m tall and roughly 365,000 m² of floor space. Nicolae Ceaușescu conceived it after the 1977 earthquake as a single seat for the whole state apparatus and began building it on Spirii Hill in 1984, after an entire district of old Bucharest, with churches, hospitals and thousands of houses, had been demolished.
The project was led by architect Anca Petrescu, who was only 28 when she won the competition, at the head of a team of several hundred architects; in all, more than 100,000 people worked on the site, in three shifts. At the time of the 1989 Revolution the building was about 60% complete. Since 1994 it has housed the Chamber of Deputies and, since 2004, the Senate as well, alongside the Constitutional Court, an international conference centre and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, in the west wing.
Almost everything you see is made of Romanian materials: a million cubic metres of marble, solid wood, carpets woven to order and thousands of crystal chandeliers. The style is an eclectic blend of monumental neoclassicism, with a declared debt to Versailles and Buckingham Palace, which the architects of the day nicknamed "little Pyongyang".
What you can see
Visits are guided only and cover a small part of the building, through the state rooms on the lower levels: the C.A. Rosetti Hall, a concert hall with a five-tonne chandelier, the Nicolae Bălcescu Hall, the Human Rights Hall, the Union Hall, a vast banqueting hall, and the Alexandru Ioan Cuza Hall, with its ceiling almost 20 m up. The Gallery of Honour and monumental marble staircases link them, and the tour usually ends on the balcony above Constitution Square, with the vista down Bulevardul Unirii in front of you.
Good to know
Visits are strictly in guided groups, booked by phone in advance, with an original ID document and a security check at the entrance. The lifts are not available to visitors: the route involves several hundred steps. The extended tours, of the panoramic terrace and the basement, were unavailable at the time of checking.
- The Alexandru Ioan Cuza Hall, the palace's largest room, with its ceiling almost 20 m up and huge crystal chandeliers.
- The five-tonne chandelier in the C.A. Rosetti Hall, the palace's concert and performance hall.
- The Union Hall, the banqueting hall with a carpet of over 1,000 m² woven specially for it.
- The Gallery of Honour and the monumental marble staircases between the state rooms.
- The balcony facing Constitution Square, with Bulevardul Unirii stretching ahead like a Bucharest Champs-Élysées.
Good to know before you go
- Getting there
By car: the palace is in central Bucharest, on Spirii Hill, between Constitution Square and Izvor Park. The visitor entrance is not the main front on Constitution Square but on Strada Izvor, on the north side, from Izvor Park. From Piața Unirii it is a ~10-minute walk along Bulevardul Unirii; from Gara de Nord about 20 minutes by car.
Public transport: metro to Izvor station (M1, M3), then a 5–10-minute walk through Izvor Park to the visitor entrance; alternatively, Piața Unirii station and a ~15-minute walk along Bulevardul Unirii. Bus 385 stops close to the visitor entrance on Strada Izvor.
- Where to park
There is no dedicated visitor car park. Spaces on the surrounding streets (Strada Izvor, Calea 13 Septembrie, Bulevardul Națiunile Unite) are few and paid, through the city's parking scheme. The easiest option is to leave the car in the car parks along Bulevardul Unirii or around Piața Unirii and walk; on weekdays the area fills up quickly.
- Fees & discounts
Standard tour: adults 85 lei, students (aged 19–26, with a valid student card) 55 lei, children aged 7–18 40 lei. Free for accompanied children aged 0–6, people with disabilities and their companion, one guide or interpreter for organised groups of at least 15 adults and one accompanying teacher for school groups. Private standard tour (up to 35 people): 3,000 lei. Photography for personal use is allowed; professional photography costs 500 euro/hour and professional filming 5,000 euro/hour. The terrace, basement and combined terrace + basement tours are charged separately but were unavailable at the time of checking. Tickets are sold on site only, at the desk in the Constantin Brâncuși Hall; there are no online tickets.
- Rules
Visits are by guided tour only, in Romanian or English, subject to availability. Booking is compulsory: by phone, at least 24 hours ahead, for 1–9 people; by e-mail (cic.vizite@cdep.ro), at least 3 days ahead, for groups of 10 or more. Check in 15 minutes early at the information desk with your original ID card or passport — driving licences are not accepted. Security screening of people and bags is compulsory; liquids, weapons, alcohol, flags and protest items are not allowed in. Decent dress is required, smoking is banned and touching objects in the building is forbidden; leaving the group or the route is an offence. The lifts are not used: the route is covered on stairs, with several hundred steps, so it is hard to manage in a wheelchair or with a pushchair. School groups are booked separately, through the Chamber of Deputies' Educational Centre.
- Facilities
information desk and ticket office in the Constantin Brâncuși Hall · guiding in Romanian and English · no cloakroom · no online tickets · difficult access for wheelchairs and pushchairs (stairs only) · National Museum of Contemporary Art in the west wing, with a separate entrance and ticket
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