The Patriarchal Palace in Bucharest is set for major restoration via funding from the EU. The work on landmark building from the early part of the 20th century is due for competition in 2015.

The Palace will be completely restored and the project is the second biggest EU funded scheme so far in Bucharest, after the Sudului Square road infrastructure scheme. The total cost of the project is expected to be around EUR 18.9 million and EU funding will cover the vast majority of the total, some EUR 17 million, said the Director of the Regional Development Agency Bucharest-Ilfov (ADRBI), Dan Nicula, quoted by the local press. The work is due to be carried out over the next two and a half years.

As well as strengthening and restoring the Palace, a museum will be opened inside, exhibiting religious art treasures belonging to the Romanian Orthodox Church. The development has an eye on promoting tourism at the Palace and modern information point will also be installed. The building will remain open to the public during the work.

Designed by architect Dimitrie Maimarolu and built on the site of the old Assembly of Deputies in the early 1900s, it was the first building in Romania constructed with French engineer François Hennebique's Béton Armé construction method. His pioneering reinforced concrete building technique revolutionized architecture at the end of the 19th Century and laid the foundations for modern construction methods.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Arhivafoto.ro)