Băneasa Forest (''Pădurea Băneasa'' in Romanian) is a wood in the north of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Covering , the ground is located in proximity to Băneasa 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 where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden ...

History

After the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

of 1989 and the end of Romania's communist era, 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 Național'' 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
"Magnații români doboară pădurea Băneasa"
, in '' Cotidianul'', October 16, 2008 According to a 2008 report by '' Cotidianul'' newspaper, among the latter were businessmen-politicians Gigi Becali, Dan Voiculescu, and . 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 (), sometimes known as the general mayor, is the head of the Bucharest City Hall in Bucharest, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast ...

and later President Traian Băsescu alongside controversial real-estate developer . Popoviciu had previously been accused of using land grants from the Agronomic 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 al ...

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, or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise or sound with potential harmful effects on humans and animals. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machines, transport and propagation systems.Senate Publi ...

, and claimed that the firm in question had among its shareholders the former Environment Minister 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 History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. One of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and in ...

. 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 corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, London, 2004, p.43-44. Andy Irvine has written a song "Băneasă's Green Glade", which he recorded in 1974 with Planxty on the album '' Cold Blow and the Rainy Night''.''Planxty – Cold Blow and the Rainy Night'', Polydor 2442 130, 1974. File:Padurea Baneasa - panoramio.jpg, The Băneasa Forest File:Padurea baneasa 3.jpg, Zoo Băneasa

References

Parks in Bucharest Forests of Romania

Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

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