Gheorghe Lazăr High School is Bucharest’s second oldest high school, being opened in 1860. It is named after Gheorghe Lazăr, a Transylvanian-born Romanian scholar who founded the first Romanian language school in Bucharest in 1818 and whose statue was featured on this blog last January. The high school is one of the most famous in Bucharest and its location at the southeast corner of Cişmigiu park is unbeatable: what better place to go to when you’re skipping classes? 🙂
The Central School is a school located in downtown Bucharest, one of the oldest schools in the city. The institution was established in March 1851 by Prince Barbu Ştirbei as a school for girls and the school opened in 1852. The building that houses the Central School was built in 1890 by Ion Mincu, who is considered one of the greatest Romanian architects which is why Bucharest’s University of Architecture bears his name. He was a promoter of the Neo-Romanian style of architecture and the Central School is the best example of a Neo-Romanian style building. It has a rectangular layout, similar to that of a monastery complex, with an inner courtyard surrounded by passageways.
The first medical school was established in Romania in 1857, by a French expatriate medic by the name of Carol Davila (1828-1884). The healthcare system in Romania had been in existence since around 1700 but the doctors were schooled abroad in countries like France, Italy or Austria. As a side note, today it’s the other way around, doctors get schooled in Romania and go to practice abroad. In 1869 the National School of Medicine and Pharmacy became a department of the University of Bucharest and the first doctoral degrees were granted in 1873. In 1903 the school got a new building, which you can admire in today’s photo, designed in French neoclassical style by Louis Blanc. Fittingly, the statue that appears in front of the main entrance is of Carol Davila. It was created by the sculptor Carol Storck.
A few steps away from University Square, behind a little square with a fountain, lies the building of the School of Architecture. The building is a hybrid, with an old wing and two new ones. The old wing, which appears in today’s photo, was designed by architect Grigore Cerchez in 1912 in the tradition of Brâncovenesc style, an architectural style developed in Wallachia (historical province of Romania located south of the Carpathians mountains) during the reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu (1688-1714), style which that mixes Eastern and Renaissance motifs, with richly ornate pillars and in this case a heavily decorated facade. This building was dedicated to Ion Mincu, which is considered to be one of the greatest Romanian architects. The two new wings of the building were added between 1963 and 1968. Initiated by the society of Romanian Architects in 1892, the School of Architecture became a state institution in 1897 and reached the university statues in 1904. Today Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urban Planning, to name its official title, has departments of Architecture, Urban Planning, Restoration and Interior Design.
This serious looking building is Bucharest’s Law Faculty which is part of the University of Bucharest. It was designed by architect Petre Antonescu in neoclassical style and was finished in 1935. On the facade are the statues of five great lawmakers, lawyers and jurists of the ancient times: Lycurgus of Sparta, Solon, Cicero, Papinian and Justinian. The statues are the work of sculptors Ion Jalea and Costin Georgescu. Romania’s Civil Code is based on the Napoleonic Code (the French Civil Code) established under Napoléon I in 1804, which was adopted by Romania in 1864 (with some modifications) and is still in use.
