• In 1984, Nicolae Ceauşescu buried under the main staircase of "13 Septembrie" Entrance, a steel cylinder containing information and details about the work started. "I leave to you this House...", was the expression used by the dictator1.

 

  • "By the People's Palace, Ceauşescu wanted to prove that he was the best leader of the socialist bloc". This is why he asked the designers to make the most efficient fallout bunker that could resist a devastating earthquake of over 8 degrees on the Richter scale, repeated attacks with high-performance rockets and two atomic bombs launched successively. 8 escape tunnels were also designed that would ensure his retreat in extreme circumstances. Originally, only one bunker was designed - under Nicolae Ceauşescu's Cabinet no. 1 - so that the dictator could quickly get to the bunker using an elevator and a secret passage. Out of the builders' error, resulting from excessive secrecy, the bunker was built in another part of the building. As a result, Ceauşescu decided to have another one built where he wanted it to be. The fallout bunker is described as an enclosure with 1.5 m thick walls covered with an anti-explosion plate that cannot be penetrated by radiation and it is composed of the main hall, i.e. the control area – the headquarters that had to be able to communicate by telephone with all military units in Romania – and several apartments, intended for the leaders of the state, in case of war. "The main hall was going to be equipped with a large table in the middle and with a relief map system of Romania, on the walls. Swedish pumps were brought for ventilation purposes, with special filters, which were embedded in the walls. There were 12 large rooms with spare filters, stacked on shelves. These were the only foreign components of the People's Palace".2

 

  • Urban Legends say that the Palace of the Parliament is haunted by ghosts, who show up at night in the hallways of the largest building in Europe, breaking seals, whistling or making security systems tinkle. Based on the stories of the night staff of the building, legends say that these ghosts started to make their presence felt about 10 years ago.

 

  • Some said that the carpet in the Union Hall was made from a single peace and was brought in the hall using a crane, through the ceiling. Others said that an exterior wall was taken down in order to bring it into the hall.

 

  • Some say that the ceiling of the Union hall should have been able to open so that the presidential helicopter could land inside the hall.

 

  • There were rumours saying that Ceauşescu wanted to build a metro line between the airport and the People's Palace, so that it could be quickly evacuated under extreme circumstances.

   The building of the Palace of Parliament remains, as Catherine Lalumiere, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, very well described it, "the palace of a megalomaniac man, but also a masterpiece of the Romanian people".

 


1http://www.curierulnational.ro/Politic/2003-03-08/Secretele+Casei+Poporului..../

2Interview with Nicolae Kovacs, graduate of the section for special constructions within the Military Academy

3http://www.curierulnational.ro/Politic/2003-03-08/Secretele+Casei+Poporului..../