BUCARESDAVA

The real city

Places of
BUCARESDAVA

The story is fictional but the city beneath it's real.

BUCARESDAVA is rooted in real places across Bucharest. Some still exist, others have disappeared, while others have changed so dramatically that the city around them bears little resemblance to the one described in the novel.

Explore the history behind these places, discover how they appeared in different periods, and see what remains of them today.

Places
Nine, with more in preparation
Period
AD 105 to 1890
Setting
Bucharest, along the Dâmbovița
Lost places
Colțea Tower, Șerban Vodă Inn

01The places

Nine places, in order of date.

Arranged by date, from the earliest layer of the novel to the latest. Each place will have its own page, with its history, how it looked in different periods and what remains of it today.

  • Imagined reconstruction of the Dâmbovița river around AD 105

    c. AD 105

    The Dâmbovița

    The river as it may have looked around AD 105, long before Bucharest. The same river runs through every era of BUCARESDAVA.

  • Historical reconstruction of the Princely Court in Bucharest around 1459

    1459

    The Princely Court

    The political centre from which Bucharest first enters the surviving written record on September 20, 1459.

  • Historical reconstruction of the Holy Trinity (Radu Vodă) Monastery in Bucharest around 1575

    c. 1575

    Holy Trinity / Radu Vodă

    The princely monastery known today as Radu Vodă, reconstructed as it may have appeared before its destruction in 1595.

  • Historical reconstruction of Mihai Vodă Monastery in Bucharest in 1595

    1595

    Mihai Vodă Monastery

    A monastery above the Dâmbovița, built in 1591 by Mihai Viteazul, that still stands today, moved on rails in the 1980s.

  • The Șerban Vodă Inn in Bucharest, a merchants’ inn demolished in the 1880s

    1685:Lost place

    Șerban Vodă Inn

    Built by Prince Șerban Cantacuzino as a fortified inn for merchants, with shops, cellars and warehouses. Demolished in 1883.

  • Historical reconstruction of Podul Calicilor, the Beggar’s Bridge, in Bucharest in 1704

    1704

    Podul Calicilor

    The Beggar’s Bridge: a street paved with wooden beams south of the Dâmbovița, named after the poor who lived and begged along it.

  • Historical reconstruction of Colțea Tower in Bucharest in 1888

    1888:Lost place

    Colțea Tower

    Once one of Bucharest’s defining landmarks, demolished as the old city gave way to the modern capital.

  • Historical reconstruction of Colțea Hospital in Bucharest in 1888, with its new building under construction

    1888

    Colțea Hospital

    Founded in 1704 beside Colțea Tower and rebuilt from 1888, the year the tower came down. It is still a working hospital.

  • The National Bank of Romania palace in Bucharest as it may have looked in 1890

    1890

    The National Bank of Romania

    The bank’s palace, completed in 1890 on the site of the old Șerban Vodă Inn, in the merchant quarter around Lipscani Street.

More monuments, vanished landmarks, streets and landscapes from the novel will be added as their files are prepared.

Discover the novel