EAA 2020 Social Events
Two of Bucharest’s oldest and most iconic restaurants have been selected to host the Congress Early Bird Reception (The Beer Wagon, Romanian: Caru’ cu Bere) and the Welcome Reception (Manuc’s Inn; Romanian: Hanu’ lui Manuc). The Gala Dinner will be hosted in the Unirii Hall of the Palace of the Parliament (the second largest building in the world), situated on the edge of Old Town.
Early Bird Reception Venue – The Beer Wagon (Caru’ cu Bere)
With a history dating back to 1879, The Caru’ cu Bere restaurant is a beer house built in neo-gothic architectural style, noted for its distinctive art nouveau interior decoration (paints, stained glass, mosaics and carved paneling), making it Romania’s most iconic restaurant by Thrillist.com.
The name came from the owners’ practice of beer brewing craftsmanship. In the 19th century, beer was brought to the beer house by horse-driven wagons. The symbol of Caru’ cu Bere is Old Ghiță (Romanian: Moş Ghiţă), whose carved silhouette still guards the place. Inseparable from his lantern, Old Ghiță was the restaurant’s cellar who worked here some dozens of years, moving up and down the stairs to the cellar full with wine and beer barrels.
Today, the building is recognized as an architectural and historical monument. The heraldry of Caru’ cu Bere consists of a rooster and a cat, suggesting to wake up early in the morning, like the rooster, and to be shrewd like a cat, until sunset. A symbol of Bucharest’s Old Town, the restaurant is the meeting place for both locals and foreign tourists.
Welcome Reception Venue – Manuc’s Inn (Hanu’ lui Manuc)
Today one of Europe's last remaining caravanserai, currently laying in Old Town across the street from the ruins of the Old Princely Court of Vlad III, Manuc’s Inn was built in 1804 by the wealthy Armenian trader, better known under his Turkish name, Manuc-bei. Recognized, rewarded and pursued by all the empires fighting for influence over the Romanian Principalities at that time, Manuc-bei was, all at once, merchant, “banker“, entrepreneur, adventurer and secret agent. With 15 wholesalers, 23 retail stores, 107 rooms for offices or living, two receiving rooms and a pub, the inn was a favorite meeting place for tradesmen, craftsmen and travelers from all over the world.
The inn was the site of the preliminary talks for the Treaty of Bucharest, which put an end to the 1806-1812 Russian-Turkish war. Along time, Hanu’ lui Manuc housed Bucharest's town hall, a theatre, and was the site of the first Romanian operetta recital.
Gala Dinner and Party - The Palace of the Parliament
The Palace of the Parliament, built at the special request of Nicolae Ceauşescu, the leader of Romania's Communist Party, is a colossal construction meant to gather together all administrative bodies and protect the leaders in case of devastating earthquake and nuclear attack. Formerly known as the "People's House" (Romanian: Casa Poporului), it is the world's second largest administrative building after the U.S. Pentagon, the largest civil administrative building, and the heaviest and most expensive building in the world. The impressive construction incorporates 1,000,000 cubic meters of marble (about 5,305,491,057 pounds), 3,500 tons of crystal, 220,000 carpets and 2,800 chandeliers. Currently, about half of the total 1,100 rooms are finished and used.
The construction is the result of the effort of about 700 architects and more than 100,000 workers and 12,000 soldiers. Overall, more than 20,000 persons worked 24 hour three shifts per day in peak times. The main constructions took place over a period of 13 years (1984-1997). The works required the demolition of a fifth of Bucharest’s area (4.5 km in length and 2 km in width), the equivalent of a few Parisian districts and the total surface of Venice. This part of Bucharest was already significantly damaged by the devastating earthquake of 1977, felt throughout the Balkans. Although the initial project needed 80,000 sq.m, the final building occupies a surface 5 times bigger. Catherine Lalumiere, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, described it as "the palace of a megalomaniac man, but also a masterpiece of the Romanian people".
Nowadays, the building hosts several Romanian public institutions: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate (the two houses of the Parliament of Romania), the Legislative Council and the Constitutional Court of Romania. In 2008, the Palace hosted the 20th summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
According to some urban legends and myths, the impressive 2,226 sq.m. (23,961 sq.ft.) Gala Dinner Unirii Hall was first designed to open so that the presidential helicopter could land inside the hall. Moreover, same say that the carpet in this Hall was made from a single piece and was brought in the hall using a crane, through the ceiling.
Since the building hosts official institutions of the Romanian State, visitors are subject to regulated controls. More information will be posted to the website as soon an access procedure will be agreed with the official representatives.
