"Destination: Bucharest" - A walk on Calea Victoriei

If the streets could tell their stories, Calea Victoriei would definitely have a long history to share. One of the oldest and most beautiful streets of the Capital, Calea Victoriei is the place where the city displays its elegant palaces, invites its inhabitants and visitors to the theater, museums and concerts. We start from Națiunile Unite Square to Victoriei Square to get to know it better.

Today known as Calea Victoriei, the street links its beginnings to the name of Romanian ruler Constantin Brâncoveanu (Alexandru Ofrim - Străzi vechi din Bucureştiul de azi - Old streets from nowadays Bucharest, Humanitas, 2011). In 1692, he built a road to connect his estate on the shore of Dâmboviţa, to the estate of Mogoșoaia, where he would build a palace in 1702. The road was paved with wooden beams, hence its name then, Mogosoaia Bridge. The road was renamed Calea Victoriei only in 1878, after the Independence War, when the victorious Romanian troops made their triumphal entry into the Capital here. Little of the original configuration has been preserved, but almost every building today has a history that connects it to the earlier periods of the road.