Hotels near Revolution Square and University Square

Revolution Square (Piata Revolutiei) is the exact spot where Nicolae Ceausescu delivered his final speech from the balcony of the Central Committee building on 21 December 1989 - and where the crowd's boos triggered the four-day chain of events that ended his 24-year rule. The square is framed by the Royal Palace (now the National Museum of Art), the Romanian Athenaeum, the former Communist Party HQ, and the Kretzulescu Church from 1722. The 25-metre white marble Memorial of Rebirth commemorates the 1,142 people killed during the Revolution.

One kilometre south lies University Square (Piata Universitatii), the second major protest site of 1989 and again in 1990, marked with a small stone cross for the students killed on 13 June 1990 during the Miners' Riots. The University of Bucharest main building, the National Theatre, the Coltea Hospital and Church, and the Sutu Palace (now the Municipal Museum) frame the square. A walk between the two, roughly 15 minutes along Calea Victoriei or Bulevardul Balcescu, gives you a fast overview of the 20th-century political heart of the city.

Pro Tip: Join one of the free 2-hour walking tours that leave from University Square daily at 10:30 and 15:00 (Walkabout Free Tours) - the guides typically studied history at the University next door and cover both squares with primary-source detail you will not get from a paper guidebook.