Quito Square (''Piața Quito'') is located in the center 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 ...

, near Victory Square, right in the middle of Paris Street. At its centre is a sculpture dedicated to (October 14, 1883 – February 10, 1919), one of the pioneers of aviation in Romania, the second best aviator in Romania. On June 22, 1905, Mircea Zorileanu was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, being assigned to the 1st '' Roșiori'' regiment in

Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...

. In the summer of 1910, he suffered an injury during horse riding; due to his fractures he was declared unfit for riding. While recovering in the summer of 1910, he became interested in aviation, especially after Louis Blériot's first flight to Romania on October 31, 1909. In the autumn of 1910, with the little money he had, he traveled to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to attend Roger Sommer's Blériot aviation school, at Mourmelon-le-Grand. He attended the school from November 12, 1910 to February 13, 1911, but did not obtain a pilot's license at that time. When he returned to Romania, Zorileanu was asked to demonstrate his skills at Prince George Valentin Bibescu's flight school in Bucharest. on July 15, 1911 he executed before a military commission a flight with a Blériot

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

, following which he received the second flight license granted in Romania. On one of the corners of Quito Square is the villa of engineer and builder , where he lived with his whole family. The project, in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style, was carried out by the architect between 1930 and 1932.

References

* {{Quarters Bucharest Squares in Bucharest