This is one of the classical vistas in Bucharest: CEC bank headquarters (architect Paul Gottereau 1900, Beaux Arts – “Paris train station” style), seen from the Stavropoleos church (late Brancovan style, 1724). One can immediately notice here the benefits of the recent pedestrianisation of the area. Bucharest would be a much more comfortable town to live and create if the local authorities would enforce the car parking rules, get rid of the maze of cables hangings over from street poles at every step and plant more trees in parks and on the streets. With those three simple measure, Romania’s capital would become a truly pleasant place, as this image abundantly testifies.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 