World War One Sites - The NETWORLD Database

Arcul de Triumf (Arch of Triumph) in Bucharest, Romania

Arcul de Triumf is a landmark of Bucharest and Romania. Arcul de Triumf celebrates the victory of Romania in the WW1 as well as the Great Union of 1918. The monument was designed by the Romaniana architect Petre Antonescu and was built in the period 1921-1922 and rebuild in the period 1935-1936.
Arcul de Triumf is not the fist monument of this kind constructed in Bucharest as it has been preceded by some provisional constructions with similar significance, that commemorated consecutively the victory of Romania in the Independence war (1878), the jubilee of 40 years of reign of King Carol I (1906) and the return of Romanian royal family after the exil from Iasi (1918).
In the current form, the monument has been innaugurated in December the 1st 1936 ( when it was celebrating 18 years of Union of Transilvania with Romania); at this ceremony the king Carol II, his mother Queen Mary and the price heir Mihai participated.
The construction material used was granite from Deva city. The monument has been constructed in a classical style after the model of the Great Arch de Triomphe in Paris.
The southern facade is decorated with two bronze medalions depicting the faces of King Ferdinand and Queen Maria which replaced the the original ones, destroyed by the Communist regime after the 1980s.
On the northern facade two medalions were illustrated, depicted The Power (a warrior with a sword) and The Faith (a youngman with a cross) and two representations of Victory.
On the volt stones of the Arcul de Triumf there are the names of the localities where the WW1 battles took place on the Romanian territory (Mărăşeşti, Oituz, Cerna, Neajlov, Jiu Olt, Mărăşti, etc.) and on the side facades there are the proclamations of the king Ferdinand to the people when the country entered the war and the one in Alba Iulia on the occasion of his crowning.

 

Romania, București-Ilfov region

Type of WWI-heritage

  • War monument

Dimensions

It has a foundation of 25 x 11.50 metres rectangle and a height of 27 meters.

State of repair/preservation

Consolidation works were finalized in November 2016 (the project entitled Consolidation, restoration and preservation of Arcul de Triumf implemented by the municipality of Bucharest through Operational Regional Program 2007-2013).

Historical WWI Context

The monument was built to commemorate the victory of Romania in the WWI and the Great Union in 1918.

A brief history of Romania’s participation in the First World War can be found at:
http://www.marelerazboi.ro/
https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Rom%C3%A2nia_%C3%AEn_Primul_R%C4%83zboi_Mondial

State of legal protection

This objective is included on the List of historical monuments.

Owner

The owner is the Administration of Monuments and Tourist Heritage – AMPT within Bucharest City Hall.

Kind of cultural use of WWI

Arcul de Triumf hosts a small museum having four exhibitions: Great War of Reunification of the Nation (photos and video), Simbols of Great Boyar Families (bronze effigies, photos), Arcul de Triumf in Images (photos, layouts), Great Union of 1918. Until the start of rehabilitation works in 2014 there was the possibility for these exhibitions to be visited ocassionaly.

Opening

At present, this cultural attraction cannot be visited but in the future this might be option.

Entrance Fee

No information available.

Information regarding cities, villages, other touristic attractions (non-WWI) nearby

Public Transport

Arcul de Trimf is accessible by public trasportation, using metro (http://www.metrorex.ro) and/or buses and tram (http://www.ratb.ro/ ). By metro the closest metro station is Aviatorilor (on M2 route) while by bus there are buses number 131, 282 and 331. From the airport (http://www.bucharestairports.ro) there is bus number 783; one can use also the fast tram no 41 (Casin tram station) which connects Northern Bucharest with its South Western part.

Further information sources

Museums Private Collections

Location

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