The glass lifts
Climbing the outside face of the palace.
Wikimedia Commons contributor — CC BY-SA 4.0 · fusion-of-horizons — CC BY 2.0 · Liviuolos — CC BY-SA 4.0
The National Museum of Contemporary Art occupies the west wing of the **Palace of the Parliament** — the largest administrative building in Europe and the heaviest building in the world, which Ceaușescu built after demolishing a fifth of historic central Bucharest. That juxtaposition is half the point of a visit. Critical, experimental and political art shown inside the monument to everything it argues against — and the museum opened here in 2004 amid a fierce Romanian argument about whether that was a symbolic victory or a normalisation of the building. The collection is mainly Romanian and East European, from the 1960s to the present, with changing temporary shows. Entry is by a separate door on the palace's western side rather than through the parliament tour, and two glass lifts added to the façade carry you up the outside wall. **There is a security check and a passport may be asked for.** The roof terrace opens in summer and has the best view of the palace's bulk from above.
Climbing the outside face of the palace.
The best view of the palace's bulk from above.
West wing, Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest
Palace of the ParliamentThe heaviest building on Earth and its second-largest administrative one after t1 minute walk4.3
The People's Salvation CathedralThe People's Salvation Cathedral stands directly behind the Palace of the Parlia6 minutes walk3.9
National Museum of Romanian HistoryThe old Postal Palace on Calea Victoriei keeps the country's memory from the Sto11 minutes walk4.3
Stavropoleos MonasteryIn a narrow lane behind the noise of Lipscani stands the most beautiful small ch13 minutes walk4.9
Cișmigiu GardenThe oldest public garden in Bucharest and the one with the largest presence in t14 minutes walk4.3Ceaușescu ordered it in 1984 as the House of the People, and about a fifth of historic central Bucharest was demolished for it and its approach avenue — whole districts, dozens of churches, and the homes of more than forty thousand people. It was unfinished when he was executed in 1989, and much of it stands empty still. Today it holds the Romanian parliament and this museum. The official palace tour needs advance booking and a passport and takes about an hour and a half; it is entirely separate from entering the museum.