The equestrian statue of Carol I is a monument in

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 ...

, situated in the central zone 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 of ...

, on

Calea Victoriei CALEA may refer to: *Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, an act by the US Congress to facilitate wiretapping of U.S. domestic telephone and Internet traffic *Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, a private accredit ...

. The massive statue, cast in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

, represents

Carol I of Romania Carol I or Charles I of Romania (20 April 1839 – ), born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as King from 1881 to 1914. He w ...

, the first

King of Romania The King of Romania (Romanian: ''Regele României'') or King of the Romanians (Romanian: ''Regele Românilor''), was the title of the monarch of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when the Romanian Workers' Party proclaimed the Romanian ...

, mounted on his horse. The founder of the Romanian Dynasty, during his reign Romania conquered its independence from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, in 1877, in the course the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histo ...

, known in Romania as the

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. The statue is located on

and stands in Piața Palatului (a square that was renamed "The Revolution Square" after the bloody events of 1989, opposite the

National Museum of Art of Romania The National Museum of Art of Romania ( ro, Muzeul Național de Artă al României) is located in the Royal Palace in Revolution Square, central Bucharest. It features collections of medieval and modern Romanian art, as well as the international ...

(the former

royal palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa * Abdin Palace, Cairo * Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo * Koubbeh Palace, Cairo * Tahra Palace, Cairo * Menelik Palace * Jubilee Palace * Guenete Leul Palace * Imperial Palace- Massa ...

) and in front of the

Central University Library, Bucharest The Central University Library of Bucharest (Romanian: ''Biblioteca Centrală Universitară'') is a library in central Bucharest, located across the street from the National Museum of Art of Romania. History When the University of Bucharest w ...

The old King Carol I statue by Ivan Meštrović

The first equestrian statue of King Carol I in Bucharest was created in 1939 by the

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n sculptor

Ivan Meštrović Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pavle Bilinić's ...

. The inauguration was held on Romania's National Day of May 10, 1939. Because the monument stood in a large square opposite the Royal Palace, it witnessed many significant events of the inter-war era and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, becoming one of the well-known visual symbols of

, present on numerous photos, postcards, etc. Ardeal 1945 Buc

In the night of December 30/31, 1947, after

King Michael I Michael I ( ro, Mihai I ; 25 October 1921 – 5 December 2017) was the last King of Romania, reigning from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930 and again from 6 September 1940 until his forced abdication on 30 December 1947. Shortly after Michael's ...

abdicated the throne, the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

government demolished the statue—an important visual symbol of monarchy—from its pedestal. The statue was destroyed in 1948.

The new King Carol I statue by Florin Codre

In 2007, 18 years after the Romanian anti-Communist Revolution, the Bucharest City Hall decided to recreate the destroyed statue and locate it at the original place. A small-scale model of Meštrović's original work was in possession of the sculptor's family, but an agreement was never signed, due to City Hall's inability to meet the financial requirements. Romanian sculptor

Florin Codre The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...

was tasked to create a new statue, visually similar to Meštrović's, but not an exact copy. The inauguration of the new statue took place on December 6, 2010, with

Princess Margareta of Romania Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania (; born 26 March 1949) is the eldest daughter of King Michael I and Queen Anne of Romania. She assumed her father's duties in March 2016, upon his retirement, and has claimed the headship of the House ...

, heiress of the

Romanian Royal Family The Romanian royal family ( ro, Familia regală a României) was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Romania, a constitutional monarchy in Central-Eastern Europe. The kingdom existed from 1881, when Carol I of Romania was proclaimed king, until ...

an her husband, Prince Radu, assisting. The

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 ...

Sorin Oprescu Sorin Mircea Oprescu (; born 7 November 1951) is a Romanian independent politician and medical doctor who previously served as Mayor of Bucharest between 2008 and 2015. Political activity Oprescu first ran for Mayor of Bucharest in 1998 backed ...

, was present, as well as academicians

Constantin Bălăceanu-Stolnici Constantin Bălăceanu-Stolnici (6 July 1923 – 20 August 2023) was a Romanian neurologist. Biography Constantin Bălăceanu-Stolnici was born in Bucharest, the descendant of an old boyar family. He studied at the Ion C. Brătianu High School ...

, ex-Presidents

Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as President of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, Iliescu ...

and

Emil Constantinescu Emil Constantinescu () (born 19 November 1939) is a Romanian professor and politician, who served as the President of Romania, from 1996 to 2000. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member and vice president ...

and Prime Minister

Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu Călin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tăriceanu (; born 14 January 1952) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 29 December 2004 to 22 December 2008. He was also president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the vice-pre ...

. A message from the former king Michael I was read on the occasion. Since then, the statue has regained its public significance as a tourist sightseeing place in Bucharest. Various public events are periodically held in front of it, especially the annual festivity of May 10, connected with several events related to Romanian monarchy: Carol I's first arrival in Bucharest (in 1866), Carol's formal approval of the declaration of independence proclaimed on May 9, 1877, and Carol I's coronation as

(in 1881).

Possible survival of the old King Carol I statue

There are rumors that the old statue of King Carol I is currently buried in front of the Palace of Agriculture in

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2011 Romanian census there were 180,302 pe ...

, where Soviet occupying forces would have located it during World War II. It is also possible that the house of the equestrian statue was used for another statue for the Russian general

Alexander Suvorov Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Суво́ров, Aleksándr Vasíl'yevich Suvórov; or 1730) was a Russian general in service of the Russian Empire. He was Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy ...

located in Dragosloveni, but this is not confirmed.

References

{{Coord, 44, 26, 22.8, N, 26, 5, 49.2, E, display=title Calea Victoriei Buildings and structures in Bucharest Equestrian statues in Romania 1939 sculptures 2010 sculptures Outdoor sculptures in Bucharest

Carol I Carol I or Charles I of Romania (20 April 1839 – ), born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as King from 1881 to 1914. He w ...