A stroll through Bucharest’s Old Town will reveal many warnings like the ones in today’s photographs. A high number of buildings have been neglected for a long while and some structures have reached the point where they are unsafe and dangerous for pedestrians. The first warning, on the building’s cover, reads “Beware! Danger of collapsing” while the second one, the makeshift sign, reads “Beware. Falling masonry”. There is a third version, which I didn’t photograph, in which more care is shown for the cars than pedestrians; that one reads “No parking. Falling masonry” or “Park at your own risk. Falling masonry”. Some of these buildings are still caught up in legal battles between descendants, some are owned by people who don’t have the financial means to repair them; there are also allegations that some of them are owned by persons or companies who wait for their collapse so they can sell the land, usually a prime piece of real estate. One is not allowed to torn down a historical building, but if the building collapses by itself then nobody can stop you from selling the land. It’s sad though that all this architectural heritage is on the verge of being destroyed forever.
it's scary to leave it be… what if somebody at the wrong place,at the wrong time,walk past through it and suddenly the whole thing just falls apart?!
it's such a waste also that structures like these couldn't be restored anymore.
Be careful going around these places! Something in this post, as in many others, sounds familiar. I begin to suspect that we share more than a percentage of common words…
Oh, it IS sad that some of the older buildings are being allowed to decay!
It looks like the houses wear clothes in Bucharest!
That's too bad! I think it would require some great effort to save these buildings. Hope someone comes to the rescue…