The Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, also known as People’s Palace, was included in a list of 21 “of the strangest and most unique buildings from around the world” made by the American website Buzzfeed.com.

“Built during the era of the Soviet Union, this Stalinist symbol is the second-largest administrative building in the world. It’s so large that it can even be seen from space,” Buzzfeed describes the Romanian building, which ranks fifth in the list.

The ranking also includes unique buildings in the United Arab Emirates, Norway, UK, China, Sweden, India, Sweden, and others.

The Palace of the Parliament itself measures 270 by 240 meters  and is 86 meters high, with an extra 92 meters underground. Its footprint spans 350,000 square meters (3.77 million square feet)

Built by communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, it includes an estimated one million cubic meters of marble from Transylvania, 3,500 tonnes of crystal, 700,000 tonnes, 900,000 square meters of wood and 200,000 square meters of carpets.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com