Radio România Internațional

Tag: arch

  • Greater Romania and the sacrifice it required

    Greater Romania and the sacrifice it required

    On October 16, 1922, after
    the grand ceremony in which King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie were crowned as
    sovereigns of Greater Romania in the Alba Iulia Cathedral, the Triumphal Arch
    was also inaugurated. The royal procession, with representatives of European
    countries, military units and floats paraded under it at the time. In 2022, the
    centennial of the Coronation is also the centennial of the Triumphal Arch, the
    first permanent monument of this kind in Romania.




    Public monuments
    rooted in ancient Roman architecture, triumphal arches were built in Bucharest just
    like elsewhere in the world, to commemorate war victories or significant public
    events. The previous such monumental structures in the Romanian capital city
    had only been temporary, and had been built in 1848, 1859, 1878, 1906 and 1918 to
    celebrate glorious events: the 1948 revolution, the union of the Romanian
    Principalities, Romania’s independence, 40 years of rule for King Carol I, the
    victory in World War I.




    The triumphal arch
    under which King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie passed on their return to their
    capital as sovereigns of the Greater Kingdom of Romania was built in 1922, and
    made of wood. But this was also when a decision was made to build a stone arch.
    The current Arch is a 27m tall structure designed by the Romanian architect Petre
    Antonescu and inaugurated in 1936.




    A commemoration held this
    year to mark the events that took place 100 years ago included an exhibition
    paying tribute to the Romanian soldiers that fought in World War I. The items
    on display within the Arch mainly consisted of letters sent home by soldiers
    and received by them from families and friends.




    Emotion and poetry
    are the best words to describe these documents. Moreover, even when all the
    authors of such letters understood the political reasons behind the war, they
    still regarded it as absurd.




    We asked Titus Bazac,
    inspector with the Bucharest City Hall’s Directorate General for Architecture,
    Landscaping and Public Monuments, about the highlights of this exhibition.




    Titus Bazac:Inside the two piers of the Arch
    there are two halls. In both of them as well as on the two landings, there are
    several dioramas. In one of the piers, there is a replica of a peasant home
    interior, where a mother is crying while knitting socks for her son and
    wondering why he had to go to battle. She is wondering whether this suspension
    of the natural cycle of life, with her son going away from home, was in any way
    sensible. Then we have another interior, it may be either a rural or urban
    house, with a lamp on a table and a mother asking why she had to go through
    this ordeal, battling her decision to allow her son to go to war, a dramatic
    scene altogether.




    The walls of the Arch
    are covered in collages of photographs and facsimiles of archive letters. Mother
    is sick with worry about your fate, a soldier’s sister writes. My love, the
    kid and I are missing you and waiting for you to come home, an officer’s wife
    says. My son, be a man, do your duty and come back in one piece, a father
    writes to a soldier.




    In the attic,
    visitors go under a huge roll of paper spread over the ceiling, coming up from
    one pier and carrying on down on the other pier. Titus Bazac also gave us
    details about what the exhibition includes in the second pier:




    Titus Bazac:On the way down on the second pier we
    have a diorama of a trench where a soldier is simply devastated by the
    situation the war faced him with. Another soldier is trying to write a few
    words to his family but cannot decide how his letter should begin. And the last
    scene, a little chilling, is a grave. We can see on a monitor a firing squad, a
    symbol of the cruelty with which all WWI soldiers had to struggle. It is also
    relevant for an episode in writer Liviu Rebreanu’s works: the Romanian soldier
    forced to fight against other Romanians. He eventually switches sides, but is
    caught and executed. This is the most emotional moment of this exhibition.




    The coronation of
    King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie as sovereigns of Greater Romania in 1922 would
    not have been possible without the sacrifice of the entire Romanian society. And the Triumphal Arch, the most powerful material
    testimony to those times, reminds us of those sacrifices to this day. (AMP)

  • The Book of Triumph campaign

    The Book of Triumph campaign

    World Read Aloud Day on 1st February, followed by “Book at the Metro and, most recently, “Book of Triumph, are some of the events held in Romania this year to encourage reading. Literature lovers from across the globe celebrated World Book and Copyright Day on the 23rd of April, with Barcelona marking the event with the San Jordi Festival which combines the Christian feast day of St George with the modern celebration of books.



    On the same day, Bucharest saw the launch of the “Book of Triumph campaign, the result of the collaboration between the Bucharest City and Litera publishers. On this day, the Arch of Triumph, a symbol of the Romanian nation state, opened its doors for books and readers. Endowed with reading areas and a multimedia cultural information centre, the monument provides visitors with an interactive experience. Oana Zaharia, the director of Bucharests department for monuments and tourist heritage, tells us more about this campaign:



    Oana Zaharia: “The Book of Triumph is an idea we have developed together with Litera publishing house, our partners for this event. They have run the Night of Open Books for the last six years on 23rd April, on World Book Day. This year, which is Book Year in Romania, we wanted to do something special and came up with the idea to transform the Arch of Triumph into a library and open the site to readers, young and old, who also have the chance to visit the Arch of Triumph.



    The Arch of Triumph has been on Bucharests tourist map for a long time, but many dont know it can also be visited, says Oana Zaharia:



    Oana Zaharia: “Many dont know it is open to visitors, that you can actually go inside the Arch of Triumph. Everyone is extremely impressed when they go up the arch, with the view they get from up there as well as its interior, which is hard to imagine by just looking from the outside. You go up the Arch of Triumph through one leg of the arch, go out on the roof top and then go down through the other leg of the arch. At the moment, it is arranged into spaces for reading and areas where little children can draw. The sets and props all focus on books and the idea of reading. Its quite an unusual event and weve had only positive reviews. Its what we wanted, of course, but we never expected the event to be so successful.



    The opening events on the 23rd and 24th of April included video mapping shows that transformed the Arch of Triumph into a virtual library. The 3D animations projected onto its facade centred on themes such as history, the arts and books, providing spectators with a magical universe. Famous works, rare books and new books came together to create an interactive allegory of colours, lights and sounds. Oana Zaharia tells us more about the opening event, the Night of the Open Books:



    Oana Zaharia: “On the opening night on the 23rd of April, 5,000 people visited the Arch of Triumph between 7 pm and 11 pm. It was extremely busy. Everyone wanted to make the most of their visit, to spend some time enjoying the moment and to look around, while others were waiting outside in a queue. It was a bit difficult to ensure a steady flow, but overall it was a successful event.



    The Arch of Triumph in Bucharest will remain open until mid-June and those interested in visiting it are invited to bring a book from their personal collection. The books collected this way are going to be donated to disadvantaged communities. According to Oana Zaharia, there are more surprises in store for those willing to participate.



    Oana Zaharia: “This year we are running more campaigns aimed at whetting peoples appetite for culture, and the Arch of Triumph will probably play venue for more such events. Book launches and other small events have been planned until June 15th and well hopefully integrate them in this project which turns the Arch of Triumph into a library. After these events, the building will host various exhibitions. All these campaigns are aimed at encouraging mainly children and young people to read and accumulate information for the future development of their personalities.



    Oana Zaharia also had some advice to give to our listeners:



    Oana Zaharia: “To read and be widely-read. At the same time they should keep an eye on us because these campaigns are designed for them and we want as many locals and tourists as possible involved in these projects.



    A complex experience, through which those interested are encouraged to discover the marvelous universe of books against the historic background of the Arch of Triumph in Bucharest.



    (translated by: Cristina Mateescu, Daniel Bilt)