The actual coat of arms of Bucharest dates from the 1860s. It contains a representation of the city’s traditional patron saint, St Demetrios, one of the main Christian military saints, an indication of Bucharest’s historic role as a frontier Christendom outpost that faced the confronting Muslim power of the Ottoman Empire and its Tatar allies. The motto is inspired from the Western royal heraldry and reads as “The Fatherland and My Right” (“Patria si Dreptul Meu” in Romanian), an allusion to the fact that the city was a princely seat (the German origin Prince Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen became the chief of state in that period) of a principality, later a kingdom, which embarked on a process of modernisation on Western lines at the height of the Victorian era. The coat of arms was also provided with a mural crown, indicating the urban status of Bucharest. When the communists took over the government and the country in 1948, the coat of arms was forbidden because of its Christian and royal connections. Most of its representations on buildings, monuments and other public places throughout the city were chiselled off or concreted over, with only a handful surviving in difficult to see places. I found the above such rare surviving example placed high above the street level, on the rooftop of the old Scoala Comunala (Public Scool for poor pupils) in the Patriarchy Hill area, and was able to photograph its details only at full zoom length. The school building dates from 1898 and the style of the coat of arms, surrounded by laurel branches and flanked by two cherubs is in the French inspired decorative styles of the period. In mid 1990s, Bucharest municipal authorities have re-adopted the pre-communist coat of arms in a somehow different format, where however the three main symbols, St Demetrios, the royal motto and the mural crown feature prominently again.
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I endeavor through this daily image series to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural heritage.
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If you plan acquiring a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in locating the property, specialist research, planning permissions, restoration project management, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 