Execution spot of Romanian dictator Ceausescu and wife becomes museum, opens for tourists

Tourists have started flocking to the execution site of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena after it was opened to the public yesterday (September 3). The former military unit in Targoviste is now museum where visitors can see the wall where the two Ceausescus were shot by a firing squad on Christmas back in 1989. The famous Military Unit 01417 (on Garii St.), which was inaugurated on Tuesday, September 3, also allows visitors to see the room with iron beds where the couple spent their last days, as well as the room where a military court was improvised and where the two were sentenced to death. Sequences from the trial run on screens places around the museum. The museum is open daily and the entry ticket is RON 7 – the equivalent of some EUR 1.5. Nicolae Ceausescu was the president of Communist Romania between 1967 and 1989. He was 49 when he came to office, and 71 when he was executed. His regime collapsed in 1989, when the couple tried to escape by helicopter. They were however captured by army forces and kept in the Targoviste military unit. They were tried and convicted to death for mass murder after a two-hour court session. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: evz.ro)