Palace of the Patriarchate
The building known today as the Palace of the Patriarchate was built by the Romanian State at the beginning of the 20th century on the site of the former hall of the Assembly of Deputies on the Metropolis Hill in Bucharest. The old hall of the Assembly of Deputies, with the land on which it stood, belonged to the Metropolis of the Romanian Country, which had its headquarters in the buildings surrounding the present cathedral on the Metropolis Hill, as the chrysobulls of the time show.
This complex of buildings, consisting of the Patriarchal Cathedral, the Patriarchal Residence and the Patriarchal Palace, is located on the site of the monastery of Holy Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, a foundation and donation made to the Romanian Metropolis by Constantine Vodă Șerban (1654-1658).
The special role that the metropolitan had in the Country Assembly in the second half of the 19th century meant that the great historical events in the life of Wallachia took place on the Metropolis Hill. Here, on 24 January 1859, the Elective Assembly of Wallachia, chaired by Metropolitan Nifon in the former hall of the Assembly of Deputies, voted the act of the union of Wallachia with Moldova by electing Alexandru Ioan Cuza as Prince of the Romanian Principalities.
The political, construction and urban planning developments in the capital led to the construction of the Chamber of Deputies here in 1906-1908, the land having become state property in 1883, when the country’s legislature decided to replace both the former hall of the Assembly of Deputies with the current building, and the former monastery with an imposing cathedral. Circumstances, however, meant that only the former was realized.
The Patriarchal Palace was built according to the plans of the architect Dimitrie Maimarolu, the first reinforced concrete construction in the country. It underwent various modifications over time, the most important of which was the rebuilding of the dome (cupola), which collapsed in the earthquake of 10 November 1940.
After December 1989, due to the fact that the missionary-cultural activities of the Romanian Orthodox Church increased and the available spaces were insufficient to carry out these activities, as well as the fact that the Romanian Parliament – the Chamber of Deputies – moved its headquarters to another building, this building constructed on the Church’s land, at the request of the Romanian Patriarchate, was given to the Romanian Patriarchate by Romanian Government Decision No. 941 of 8 October 1996.
Under the care of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, on 6 December 2010, by Romanian Government Decision no. 1229, the Patriarchal Palace became the property of the Romanian Patriarchate.
