Charles de Gaulle Square (Romanian: Piaţa Charles de Gaulle) is a square in northern Bucharest, Romania. It lies at the intersection of Aviatorilor, Constantin Prezan and Primăverii Boulevards, and Calea Dorobanţilor. In the centre of the square stands Paul Neagu's Crucea Mileniului (Millennium Cross), built in the 1990s. In September 2006, on the occasion of the Francophonie Summit held in Bucharest, a statue of Charles de Gaulle was unveiled. Sculpted by Mircea Spătaru, it is 4.6 m high and was financed by the government.[1]
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Neighbourhood
Herăstrău Park is located to the northwest of the square, Arcul de Triumf is located in its own square a few hundred metres to the west, on Constantin Prezan Blvd., while Piaţa Victoriei, where the Romanian Government headquarters is situated, is located south, via Aviatorilor Blvd. The state-owned Televiziunea Română is located about 100 metres to the southeast, on Calea Dorobanţilor. The Primăverii neighbourhood, which used to include the houses of the Communist nomenklatura, is located to the northeast. Charles de Gaulle Plaza, an office building inaugurated in 2004, is located in the southeastern part of the Square and the Aviatorilor metro station is located right underneath it.
Name
The square was originally Piaţa Jianu, from Iancu Jianu, a haiduc (brigand) and folk hero who fought together with Tudor Vladimirescu in the 1821 Wallachian Revolution. In the early 1940s it was renamed Piaţa Adolf Hitler, but its original name was restored shortly after 23 August 1944, when Romania joined the Allies and turned against the Axis Powers. However, after the Soviets occupied Romania and imposed a Communist government, its name was changed in 1948 to Piaţa Stalin, lasting until the early 1960s, when Romania began to assert a more independent foreign policy vis-à-vis the Soviet Union and it was renamed Piaţa Aviatorilor, Aviators' Square. Its final name change happened in the late 1990s, the square being renamed after Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French Forces and first president of the French Fifth Republic.
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Quarters: Berceni • Băneasa • Centrul Civic • Colentina • Cotroceni • Crângaşi • Dămăroaia • Dealul Spirii • Dorobanţi • Dristor • Drumul Taberei • Dudeşti • Ferentari • Floreasca • Ghencea • Giuleşti • Griviţa • Iancului • Lipscani • Militari • Obor • Odăi • Olteniţei • Pantelimon • Pipera • Primăverii • Progresul • Rahova • Tei • Titan • Vitan • Văcăreşti |
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Notes
- ^ "Monumentul 'Charles de Gaulle' inaugurat in piaţa cu acelaşi nume" ("Charles de Gaulle Monument Unveiled in Eponymous Square", HotNews.ro, September 26, 2006.
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