Cristian Dumitru - Bucharest

28/04/2023

| Topkapi Palace Museum. Set on top of the most visible hill of Istanbul, Topkapi Palace, is the symbol of the city.
Opulent, decadent, and steeped in history, it offers visitors a chance to get to know the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire rather more intimately.
It was built in 1461 by Mehmet the Conqueror and remained both the symbolic and political home of the Ottoman Empire until Sultan Abdülmecid I moved the imperial retinue to Dolmabahçe Palace in 1853. During the four centuries in between, it hosted 22 different Sultans and their families.
It was converted into a museum after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the Turkish Republic in 1924 and is a must-see for any tourist visiting Istanbul.
It is made up of four different courtyards and various exhibitions such as the treasury, weapons, watch collection, kaftans, portraits, and sacred relics of prophets.

↳ Istanbul, Turkey

11/03/2023

11/03/2023

| Chill waves ⛵️

↳ Marble Beach, Thassos Island, Greece

10/03/2023

| A Juliet balcony with flower pots and weathered, old shutters at the window in the historic Italian city of Bergamo, the medieval upper town.

↳ Città Alta, Bergamo, Italy

06/03/2023

| The unusual and stunning Marble Beach, Thassos Island, Greece.
Saliara ‘Marble Beach’ is a small exotic beach in the northern side of Thassos. It is 5 km far from Limenas.
The beach is magnificent with white small pebbles and with a splendid color in the waters. It is an organized beach that it is really popular during the last few years.

↳ Marble Beach, Thassos Island, Greece

05/03/2023

| Palace of the Parliament.
The Palace of Parliament is the world’s second-largest administrative building ( after the Pentagon ) and former dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu’s most infamous creation.
As a socialist country in Eastern Europe, at the time the Palace was built, it was meant to symbolize the triumph of communism in Romania while being an emblematic home of the Ceausescu family – this is why all the rooms are oversized and hyper-ornate. In fact, its opulence and ostentatious décor make it the most expensive administrative building in the world, with an estimated value of over three billion euro. The events of December 1989, culminating with the overthrow of the communist regime, changed the purpose of the People's House, from a palace fit for a dictator-president into the seat of democratic government.

↳ Bucharest, ROU

28/02/2023

| La Belle Époque.
Between 1912-1913, the Palace Hotel is being inaugurated, as the most modern of all hotels from this side of Bucharest. It had 200 rooms, which made it one of the largest hotel in town. Between 1916-1918, during the First World War, after Bucharest was occupied by the German army, the German Imperial Military Commandment locates inside the Bucharest City Hall on the Elisabeta Boulevard, next to the Palace Hotel.
The Elisabeta Boulevard becomes a sort of local Broadway, where buildings with big signboards, side by side, and large cinemas were situated, some of them still existing nowadays. In 1941, the Gambrinus Brewery is inaugurated at the ground floor of the Palace Hotel, belonging to a fellow Naumescu, who continued the 40 years tradition of the famous brewery originally opened in Bucharest by the Romanian writer I.L. Caragiale. In 1965, Hotel Cismigiu received its name after the famous public garden situated nearby, where 100 years before the first public fountain was installed.

↳ Bucharest, ROU

27/02/2023

| Curtea de Arges Royal railway station. The railway station is a listed historical
building, erected in the late 19th century. The style is a clever mix of Gothic Revival and traditional Romanian styles.
The station was built, in less than a year, at the request of King Carol I. It was designed by French architect André Lecomte du Nouy and it opened in 1899.

↳ Curtea de Arges, Arges, ROU

27/02/2023

| The Hungarian Parliament building at night in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.

↳ Budapest, Hungary

26/02/2023

| Fountain of Neptune in Bologna, with four mermaid statues.
The Fountain of Neptune ( Fontana di Nettuno ) in Bologna dates back to 1565, and was created by Jean de Boulogne, also known as Giambologna. It was a controversial artwork when it was created, and still raises eyebrows today.

↳ Fountain of Neptune, Bologna, Italy