The museum Casa Ceaușescu shows how the Ceaușescu’s lived privately during his reign. Ceaușescu was of of course Romania’s communist leader from 1965 to 1989, when he was executed during the Romanian revolution. This mansion is also called Palatul Primăverii, the spring palace.
Already from afar, we hear the peacocks call. I didn’t know then that Ceaușescu loved peacocks and brought a couple home from his travels; on the tour, I learn that they procreated, and there are thirteen peacocks, descendent from the original pair he brought to Romania, on the premises now. I can only imagine what the neighbours think of that—they are very vocal birds.
There is a tour with a guide who leads us through the house. Unfortunately, it’s a very big group, but somehow, I still manage to get a few photos without people on them. The tour starts in Nicolae’s office and leads through common spaces where the entire family ate and spent time together. Several chess tables are a testament to one of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s hobbies.
Next, we go up a marble staircase and through the three children’s apartments, each containing a bedroom, a living room and a bathroom. Nicolae and Elena’s quarters follow, where lavish finishes and plenty of artwork given to them by other country’s statesmen are on display. The bathroom has real gold finishes. The walk-in closet is bigger than the average Vancouver apartment.
We walk through a spa for hair dressing, physiotherapy, sauna, anything you could think of, and the complex ends in a stunning indoor pool area with mosaic tile murals on the walls. Apparently, the pool was hardly used, which is a shame given its splendor.
From there, we walk down a stair and end up in the courtyard, where a peacock endlessly shows off his feather wheel. Past the courtyard, a small café and souvenir shop was instated where the kitchen used to be.
This visit was an interesting peek into the Ceaușescus’ private life.
Wow! Very nice and old. He lived large!
C
Glad to see you out & about exploring Dee, you have certainly seen some beautiful & very interesting places so far, its a great reminder how much history is still very much alive thank you for sharing
Very opulent! It looks like they have cherry trees blooming there as well or some other pink blossom!