Doors-open event at Bucharest building from where dictator Ceauşescu fled in December 1989

The building of the former Central Committee (CC) of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) opened for the public this past Sunday, December 22, at an event commemorating 30 years since the 1989 Revolution.

From the balcony of the building, the late dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu delivered his last public speech. He fled by helicopter from the rooftop of the same building on December 22, 1989. The building of the former CC, used today by the Interior Affairs Ministry (MAI), is located in downtown Bucharest, in Revoluției Square, close to the National Museum of Art of Romania (MNAR).

It was the first doors-open type event held at the building in the past 30 years, MAI announced.

Hundreds of people visited the site, among them those who occupied it during the events 30 years ago. Those present could visit the cabinet of the late dictator, his office, the basement of the building, the arrest cells, or the balcony from where Ceaușescu last addressed the Romanians.

The first visitors were allowed into the building starting 12:09, the same hour Ceaușescu fled by helicopter.

A moment of silence was observed to commemorate those who died in the 1989 Revolution.

Interior Affairs minister Marcel Velea said parts of the building could become a museum, Mediafax reported. “It is an option we are considering. We need to establish several criteria related to the ministry’s security objectives and what a visitor inflow could mean,” he said, quoted by Mediafax.

The same day, images from the December 1989 Revolution and novel images from the 1945 – 1989 period were screened on the façade of the building.

(Photo: Stefan Jurca/ Wikipedia)