Băneasa Forest (''Pădurea Băneasa'' in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

) is a wood in the north of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Covering , the ground is located in proximity to

Băneasa Băneasa () is a borough () in the north side of Bucharest, in Sector 1, near the Băneasa Lake (). Like all north-side districts of Bucharest, it is relatively sparsely populated, with large areas of parkland. Bordering on Băneasa Forest, ...

neighborhood and Băneasa Airport. On its southern edge, there is the Zoo Băneasa

zoological garden A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zool ...

History

After the

Romanian Revolution of 1989 The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred ...

and the end of Romania's

communist era A Communist Era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of Communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist ...

, a large portion of the area was transferred from state property back to private persons, who had obtained judicial recognition of their family deeds. According to a 2007 estimate in '' Jurnalul Naţional'' newspaper, some 10,000 hectares had been reassigned through this process. As a consequence, Băneasa Forest also become a site for real-estate development, which was reportedly done at the limit of legality or against the law, and involved several Romanian public figures. Răzvan Mihai Vintilescu
"Magnaţii români doboară pădurea Băneasa"
, in ''

Cotidianul The logo used between 2003 and 2007 ''Cotidianul'' (meaning ''The Daily'' in English) is a Romanian language newspaper published in Bucharest, Romania. History and profile Founded by Ion Raţiu, ''Cotidianul'' was first published on 10 May ...

'', October 16, 2008 According to a 2008 report by ''

'' newspaper, among the latter were businessmen-politicians

Gigi Becali George "Gigi" Becali (; born 25 June 1958) is a Romanian businessman and former politician, mostly known for his ownership of the FCSB football club. Becali was a Member of the European Parliament between June 2009 and December 2012, and a Memb ...

, Dan Voiculescu and Sorin Pantiș. The same journal also claimed that the site was one of the locations at the center of another political scandal, allegedly involving former

Mayor of Bucharest The Mayor of Bucharest ( ro, Primarul General al Municipiului București), sometimes known as the General Mayor, is the head of the Bucharest City Hall in Bucharest, Romania, which is responsible for citywide affairs, such as the water system, the ...

and later

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions between 1991 ...

alongside controversial real-estate developer Puiu Popoviciu. Popoviciu had previously been accused of using land grants from the Agronomical Institute to consolidate his personal businesses. Both ''Cotidianul'' and ''Jurnalul Național'' cited a private

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

used as justification by developers, according to which the building of facilities in the forest had the positive effect of reducing

noise pollution Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mai ...

, and claimed that the firm in question had among its shareholders the former

Environment Minister An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

and Democratic Liberal politician Sulfina Barbu.

In cultural reference

Băneasa Forest is assigned a central presence in '' Noaptea de Sânziene'', a novel written after 1949 by Romanian author and researcher

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religiou ...

. Referred to as the "forbidden forest" in the English version of the book, it is a

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

site, where the protagonist Ștefan finds escape from the suffering of the modern world.Daniel C. Noel, "Extract from ''The Soul of Shamanism: Western Fantasies, Imagined Realities''", in Andrei A. Znamenski (ed.), ''Shamanism: Critical Concepts in Sociology'', Vol. III,

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

, London, 2004, p.43-44. Andy Irvine has written a song "Băneasă's Green Glade", which he recorded in 1974 with

Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guit ...

on the album ''

Cold Blow and the Rainy Night ''Cold Blow and the Rainy Night'' is the third album by the Irish folk group Planxty. It was recorded in Sarm Studios, Whitechapel, London during August 1974 and released the same year. It takes its title from the third song on the album, "Cold ...

''.''Planxty – Cold Blow and the Rainy Night'', Polydor 2442 130, 1974. File:Padurea baneasa 1.jpg, The Băneasa Forest File:Padurea baneasa 3.jpg, Zoo Băneasa

References

Parks in Bucharest Forests of Romania

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

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