Muzeul Palatului Parlamentului

The Museum of the Palace of Parliament is the way to step inside the colossal Palace of Parliament — the former "House of the People" — one of the largest administrative buildings in the world, on a guided tour. The route leads you through part of the building's monumental halls, revealing the dizzying scale of the project raised in the 1980s under the architect Anca Petrescu and a team of hundreds of architects, with tens of thousands of workers and soldiers mobilised on the site.

Along the way you see vast marble-paved corridors, imposing staircases rebuilt specially to match Ceaușescu's stride, crystal chandeliers of barely imaginable size, some weighing tons, hand-woven carpets made specifically for certain rooms, and the balcony with its sweeping view over Bulevardul Unirii, the axis laid out deliberately to lead towards the palace and designed to be wider than the Champs-Élysées. The guides explain both the technique and materials — all Romanian, by the regime's decree — and the human and urban cost of the construction: an entire historic district, churches and monasteries demolished to make room.

Good to know

• The visit is by guided tour only, usually with advance booking and an ID document at the entrance — check the details on the official website.
• Several tour routes are available, covering different areas of the building, including the basement and the terrace.
• The closest metro station is Izvor.

It is the only way to grasp, from inside, the true scale of this controversial symbol — the natural complement to the view from outside, along Bulevardul Unirii.