Palatul Poștelor, Historic monument in Bucharest, Romania.
Palatul Poștelor occupies a plot of over 10,000 sq m on Calea Victoriei, built in an eclectic style with a neoclassical main facade modelled on the Geneva post office. A stepped portico carries ten Doric columns, and the two raised end volumes are each capped by a dome. The building has a basement, ground floor and two upper floors; ten allegorical statues once stood above the entrance, and two sculptures by Ștefan Ionescu-Valbudea, Mercury and an allegory of Mechanics, flank the facade.
Construction of the palace began in 1894 under King Carol I of Romania, replacing the former Constantin Voda Inn site. The building served as Bucharest's central post office until 1970.
The building now houses the National Museum of Romanian History, displaying national treasures and a full-scale reproduction of Trajan's Column from Rome.
The palace stands at Calea Victoriei no. 12, in the old historic centre, facing the CEC Palace across the street. The building has a basement, ground floor and two upper floors, so plan the visit floor by floor. The entrance is up the long flight of steps where Trajan's statue was placed in 2012.
The 2.15-metre bronze of Emperor Trajan, cast from about 500 kg of bronze, was unveiled on the palace steps on 29 April 2012. Museum director Ernest Oberländer Târnoveanu said at the ceremony that the building needed structural consolidation, especially at the corners and along Calea Victoriei, and that the 500 kg did the museum no good, the steps being weak already.
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