Atheneul Roman,  Bucharest Romania  Dec.2023

Atheneul Roman is a concert hall located in the center of Bucharest, the capital of Romania, and is one of the country's landmarks. Opened in 1888, the ornate, domed, circular building is the city's most prestigious concert hall and home to the "George Enescu" Philharmonic Orchestra and the George Enescu Festival. Designed by French architect Albert Galleron, the building was built on land belonging to the Văcărescu family and was inaugurated in 1888, but work continued until 1897. In a 28-year project, part of the construction funds were collected by public subscription. On 29 December 1919, the Athenaeum was the site of a conference of leading Romanians who voted to approve the union of Bessarabia, Transylvania, and Bukovina with the Old Kingdom of Romania to form Greater Romania. In 1992, a comprehensive reconstruction and restoration work was carried out by the Romanian construction company and restoration painter Silviu Petrescu, and the building was saved from collapse. The required nine million euros were donated in equal shares by the government and the Council of Europe Development Bank. The overall style is neoclassical with slightly more romantic touches. In front of the building, there is a small park and a statue of Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu. Inside, the ground floor houses an ornate auditorium as large as the concert hall above; There are 600 seats in the stands in the auditorium, and the remaining seats are placed in 52 boxes. Costin Petrescu's 75 by 3 meters fresco adorns the interior of the concert hall's circular wall. Painted using open-air technique, the work depicts the most important moments in Romanian history, starting with the Roman emperor Trajan's conquest of Dacia and ending with the realization of Greater Romania in 1918. Considered a symbol of Romanian culture, the building was included in the list of European Heritage Sites Label in 2007.