This area is where picturesque houses set in leafy gardens stand next to small parks and small churches. With no madding crowd around, the visitor can hardly believe the busy thoroughfare is just a 5 minute (sometimes less than that) away. Styles abound and diversity rules, from Neo-Classical, Neo-Gothic and Neo-Romanian all the way to Modernism, with plenty of options to choose from.

What to see: single family houses and more imposing villas or period apartment buildings set in different styles, small, beautiful churches, small parks

Having a bite: the district hosts some fine dining options, whether it is about the down-on-earth, excellent local cuisine Nicorești (10-15 minutes off the walk’s route along the Maria Rosetti), the exclusivist Heritage along the Polonă (read below), the student’n fun La Copac (23 Pitar Moș, not far from the Foreign Languages Faculty, as they themselves call it, ‘a gentleman’s tavern’; check out the drawings along the walls inside) or the cosy Chez Marie with its nice terrace (next to the Anglican Church). And there is a plethora of pastry and covrigi shops just a few steps West almost all the time. Then, do not miss the Cărturești for their teas and good reads. As for the aforementioned pastry, just a few steps North of the Zodiac Building (at the end of the walk) there is the great Tahina, on the left side of the Calea Dorobanților as you go.

Duration: 2 hours (it can be shortened to 1 hour without visits)

The walk: start in Piața Romană, pass between the Mc Donald’s and Burger King (sic!) into Lahovary Square, then follow the Eremia Grigorescu to Icoana Garden; have some tea at the Bernschutz along the Eremia Grigorescu, as you are going to pass by it. Turn right along Alexandru Xenopol Street and then, passing by the Anglican Church, turn left along the Dionisie Lupu; before doing so, you might cast a glance at the graffitis along the Arthur Verona, part of a project supported by Cărturești Bookstore. Pass by the Universitaries’ Club, then go all the way down until popping into the Maria Rosetti. Go on along the Tudor Arghezi (straight across the Maria Rosetti) until it pops into the Batiștei, turn left and take your time to visit Batiștei Church. Then go behind it and follow the Jean Louis Calderon to the left (North) until it meets the Maria Rosetti which you follow to the right, passing by some fine samples of Modernist architecture. Take the second to the left (the Schitul Dărvari) and do not miss the small convent hidden behind a tall fence, in a serene, fine small oasis. Continue to the North but soon turn left along Strada Icoanei; to your left there will be the whitewashed Icoanei Church and to the right - the fine structure of the Central School, designed by Ion Mincu. The street immediately meets the Dimitrie Gerota, with Grădina Icoanei (En. Icoana Garden) ahead; turn right along the Dimitrie Gerota and take the first to the right,  the Dumbrava Roșie, a gem of a street bordered by excellent interwar and early 20th century properties set in different styles. Follow it all the way to the Piața Spaniei, where you turn left along the busy Dacia Avenue. Follow the latter Westwards, with its imposing villas set in different styles and hosting embassies and company offices.

Right across the street from the white palace-like structure of the French Institute do not miss the narrow entrance to Ioanid Park (currently called Ion Voicu Park, but I prefer to stick to the historic one), a lovely, relaxed and totally unexpected green oasis between period villas. Turn right (West again) and exit in Gheorghe Cantacuzino Square, then turn right again along the Polonă, with fine villas to your right and one of the city’s most exclusivist restaurants, the Heritage, to your right (set in the former residence of interwar Prime Minister Gheorghe Tătărăscu). Go on until you meet the Dacia again (at the first traffic light), then turn left (West) and follow the Dacia all the way back to Romană Square. A recommended option would take you to the right (North) along the Calea Dorobanților before reaching the square. Some 80 m. along the latter, to your right (just past the Serbian Embassy) there is the Zodiac Building which is worth exploring. Then return to the Piața Romană unless you feel like some glorious pastry at Tahina’s a bit farther up the Calea Dorobanților, on your left.

Icoana Garden and Bucureștioara Stream. The current territory of Bucharest was initially dotted with ponds, lakes, marshes and it was cut across by streams flowing into the Dâmbovița; 16th century records still mention these streams. The actual Icoana Park (Ro. Grădina Icoanei) stands on the place of a such former pond, the so-called Balta Icoanei (Icoana Pond), the source of Bucureștioara Stream. The stream used to flow Southwards, passing East of the actual Piața Universității (where it created a ford used by cattle, near Batiștei Church, see below), to the back of the actual Colțea Hospital where Șuțu Pond used to exist. It then splat in two: one branch flowed to the SW and ran into the Dâmbovița near the Old Court, while the Eastern branch eventually met the Dâmbovița NE of the actual Piața Unirii. The stream slowly got clogged and the whole area turned swampy, being dried out and having a garden set on its place in 1870-1875. The ground was raised with 60 cm. so as to avoid the swamp to re-appear and trees were planted in the process. When crossing the actual Icoana Garden, it is impossible to miss the artificial bed stream winding through the central part of the park: it flows from a fountain in the Northern tip and is eventually piped in.

Across Gheorghe Cantacuzino Square from the Icoana Garden there is the easily missable entrance to Ioanid Park (look for the signpost reading ‘Parcul Ion Voicu’ next to the Gendarmerie kiosk by the Jordanian Embassy), a small reminder of the extensive park that once stood here, set in 1830-1860 and complete - back then - with a large orchard; the actual Ioanid Park was set by the City Hall on a small plot of land belonging to the former one, in 1920.

The Anglican Church. As by 1900 a small British community had emerged in Bucharest (mainly consisting of English maids, the diplomatic staff at the British Embassy and a few converted Jews), the City Hall donated a plot of land of 326 sq.m., on which, at the request of British Ambassador John Kennedy, there was built the Anglican Church of Resurrection, completed in 1914. Until its opening, the British community in Bucharest had used a small room provided by the Synagogue on Olteni Street. Once WWI was over, the church was accomplished through donations done by the Bishop of Gibraltar and Queen Maria of Romania (niece of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom). The first service took place in 1920, but the church started providing service on a regular basis in 1922. Christmas 1940 saw the church was closed down, given Romania’s siding with the Axis. It was to reopen in 1944 and during the Cold War this was the only Anglican church to officially host religious service behind the Iron Curtain even though the Communist intelligence used to follow everything and everyone that moved around it. The church lies on the crossing of Arthur Verona and Dionisie Lupu streets. It is set in standard Victorian Gothic style, hence providing a sharp contrast from the omnipresent Neo-Classical, Neo-Romanian or Modernist structures around.

GPS - N44 26.573 E26 06.145

University Club (Casa Universitarilor). The building was raised in the 1860s for Cezar Librecht, Director of the Post Company during the rule of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza. When the prince stepped down in 1866, Librecht left the country and the house was bought over by Marshal Gheorghe Filipescu’s Family. Confiscated by the Communist government, it was granted to the professor guild in town, with a few reading rooms, conference halls, a cinema and a restaurant being set in. 2007 saw it given to the University of Bucharest, which maintained its meeting and dining function; it is often used as a wedding venue. The structure is set in Eclectic style, putting together Romantic and Neo-Gothic patterns; note the line of crenels surrounding the building in the upper part of the facade. High ceiling rooms radiate from the main ground floor lobby; their windows are made of Bohemia crystal. Note the fountain in the garden that gives one a glimpse of the elegance that once ruled over this part of town, which hosted many of the rich and famous at the time.

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Batiștei Church. The initial church was built in 1654, under the rule of Matei Basarab; its name probably came from the nearby ford across Bucureștioara Stream, used by cattle (Old Romanian “batiște”). It burnt in 1658 and then it was devastated by the Tatars in 1659, just to be restored in 1660. After two subsequent restorations (1696 and 1739), the church was rebuilt of masonry in 1764, by several merchants and craftsmen. It was affected by the 1847 great fire and it was repaired a few times afterwards. The painting was done by Ioan Mihail in 1883. The final restoration took place in 1928-1929, when it was turned back to the original structure. The verandah facade bears the rectangular medallions of St. Ann, St. Paraschiva and Virgin Mary. The legend goes that a child called Manciu was scolded by Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu that the mulberry tree he used to climb would die if he continued to do that. The child answered: “Never mind, Thy Highness! The mulberry is strong! Thou shall not live to see it die!”. Indeed, the prince and his four sons were beheaded by the Ottomans in 1714, while the mulberry still survives, nowadays strengthened by concrete, near the church, which was built of masonry for the first time by several merchants and craftsmen, led by a certain Manciu... The church lies on 19-21 Batiștei (two blocks to the back of the Intercontinental).

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Dărvari Convent. This is a well hidden marvel. Located in a quiet garden off a street that splits from the Maria Rosetti (some 10 minutes walking from Scala Cinema on Gheorghe Magheru Avenue), Schitul Dărvari (Dărvari Convent) is rarely visited by others than the faithful going for the mass. With exquisite carved stone decoration elements (such as columns, window frames and door portals), the convent is quiet and one can spend hours simply looking at the faithful praying or listening to the Orthodox chants. Without being a religious person, I like this place very much because it has a human touch, as opposed to big cathedrals and monumental churches which chose to impose themselves on the mortal, rather than simply talking to him. But let us go to facts.

Mihalache Dărvari built a small church near Icoana Garden in 1834; it was meant for the use of the family and it had a few cells around it. In 1869, monks passing through Bucharest began to be hosted at the convent, and they held the mass according to the rites at Mount Athos. It was restored in 1894 and its structure was changed in 1933-1934, when a fresco painted by Iosif Kebler was added. In 1959 the monks were sent away by the Communist regime (to Cernica Monastery and Bucium Convent), the convent was transformed in a church affiliated to nearby Icoana Church and it was re-opened de facto in 1996. The convent hosted, in the 1990s, cultural and religious debates where important figures of the Romanian scene participated. The convent church dates in its actual shape since 1933-1934. It was built in Wallachian style. The church was built in a cross shape  and was made of brick walls. There are nowadays 7 monks living at Dărvari Convent. It lies on 3 Schitul Dărvari, http://www.schituldarvari.ro

GPS - N44 26.573 E26 06.424

Icoanei Church. The first church (Ceauș David Church) on the actual site was raised in 1681 and it was made of wood; it appears that it was built by David Corbea, Constantin Brâncoveanu’s emissary to Peter the Great’s court; Constantin Brâncoveanu gifted it with a 1682 icon depicting Virgin Mary which gave the actual name of the church. AS, at the time, the church was located in a green area, that was also called Icoana Garden (a part of it still exists and bears the same name). The church was replaced between 1745 and 1750 by a new, still wooden church. In 1785 a church made of stone was raised in the same spot, but it crumbled during the 1838 earthquake and it was rebuilt the same year; it would be restored a few times in 1928, 1940 and 1977. The church yard hosts graves belonging to several boyar families that lived in Bucharest. As the 1682 silver-covered, supposedly wonder-making icon still exists in the church, many people go and pray for their well-being. This fact turned the church in a very popular one in the area.

It lies on 12 Icoanei Street.

GPS - N44 26.578 E26 06.390

The Central School. In 1851, Prince Barbu Știrbei approved the establishment of a “Princely Girls’ High-school”; the school was opened in 1852 and courses took place in a few different buildings (Manuc House, Turnescu House, Ghica House). In 1890, Architect Ion Mincu drew the plans for the actual building of the Școala Centrală (En. The Central School). It has a rich exterior and interior decoration, as well as a harmonious composition, typical for the style Mincu imposed to Romanian architecture. The building relies on a classical shape of corridors and galleries set around a square garden full of vegetation. The facade is decorated with tileworks topping the window frames and the roof beams remind one of the dwelling tradition of Northern Wallachian architecture, while the whole building is surrounded by a tilework belt. Together with Bufetul de la Șosea, nowadays known as Casa Doina, this is Ion Mincu’s greatest piece of work. During WW1 the high-school was turned into a hospital, with courses only to resume towards the end of 1918. During the Communist regime, the school was named “Zoia Kosmodemianskaya”, after an 18 year old Russian partizan girl hanged by the Nazis. In 1993 the high-school got back its original name, with bilingual Romanian - French courses.

GPS - N44 26.609 E26 06.320

Tătărăscu House was built in the 1920s by Gheorghe Tătărăscu’s wife, Aretia; Tătărăscu was Prime Minister (President of the Minister Council, to follow the period calling) of Romania between 1934-1937, respectively 1939-1940. The house was set in Neo-Romanian style, with obvious Brâncoveanu features. Originally, the cellar was used for wine storage, the semi-basement hosted the kitchen, storage rooms and the garage, the ground floor hosted Tătărăscu’s office, an audience room, a large reception hall and a meeting room (often used for government meetings and the war council). The first floor hosted bedrooms, for the couple and their two children, as well as guest rooms and a wide terrace; there were a few smaller rooms in the attic. Two chimneys are to be noted: first, there is the large one in the main ground floor hall (the former reception hall), a monumental, carved stone chimney done, just like the carved stone door frames, by Milița Pătrașcu (which also worked on the mosaic parts of the Miorița Fountain just off Bucharest’s Băneasa Station). Then, there is the superb blue tile chimney in the former guest room on the first floor. The story has it the chimney was done by Sculptor Constantin Brâncuși, as Aretia was involved in the setting of the famous sculptor’s works in Târgu Jiu, where they still stand. The house used to see the King as unannounced guest for dinner, so that Aretia often arranged a spare place at the dinner table. 1945 saw Gheorghe Tătărăscu as Vice-Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister in the first Communist Government of Romania; he was to act as Head of the Romanian Delegation at the Peace Conference (1946) and the Peace Treaty (1947) in Paris. He was then thrown out of the government and arrested, together with his family, in 1950; he was to die in 1957. During the Communist regime, the house hosted a few diplomatic missions. His daughter, Sanda, got the property back after a 10 year struggle following 1989. In 2005, a group of businessmen led by Dan Costache ‘Dinu’ Patriciu (among the top three richest Romanians at the time) bought the property and turned it into a business restaurant. 2011 brought a new restoration, closer to the original features, which turned the property into an superb, exclusivist venue. A wine room with rare reds and whites was opened in the former children bedroom, the cutlery used was made of solid silver, while the plates were of Bernardaud porcelain. Juan Amador, a 3 Michelin star chef was brought to set the menu directions and complete the image. However, 2013 saw the property closed down and turning off limits for the public. It remains however worth a peek for the great architecture.

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The Zodiac Building. The property was completed in 1946; it was set in the interwar Modernist style by Architects Radu Dudescu and Mircea Marinescu. The facade hosts no least than 16 panels with zodiac signs (take your time to identify them all) while in the lower plan there are allegoric scenes. On top, right under the roof, there are smaller panels with floral patterns; the panels were done by Constantin Baraschi. The building has three wings, two on the sides and a third one in secondary plan taking the street as a point of reference. Note the balconies that bear apparently simple, but actually particularly interesting metal bar patterns typical for interwar Bucharest Modernism. The upper floors have generous terraces, while walking in the a patio allows for an interesting peek around.

GPS - N44 26.57 E26 05.58

Click here for an album of pictures shot along this walk, focusing on the Dumbrava Roșie Street - Dacia Avenue area and the Zodiac Building; I have arranged them in the sequence mentioned in the walk description above.