IntroductionThe period analysed in this paper covers a significant timespan in order to
encompass the different stages that correspond to the modernization of the
city. It is a period when the Eastern influences were left behind, in order to
embrace and become part of the European modernity.
During this period, several momentous events took place, which shaped today’s
Romania. Such were the unification of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859, the gain
of the independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, the proclamation of
the Romanian Kingdom in 1881 (under the rule of King Carol I^1 which marked
a flourishing period of stability and rapid modernization) and the Great Union
from 1918, when Romania’s territory was significantly enlarged, by including
the regions of Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bukovina. All these changes
overlapped with the dominant ideology of the period – the nationalist one.
Following this general European Zeitgeist, Romanians too were in search of
their national identity, which started to be shaped into what Benedict Anderson
calls “imagined communities”^2. This process was initiated at the beginning of
the 19th century and was considered to reach its apex with the formation of
Greater Romania in 1918.
Many aspects contribute to the nation’s building process (such as history, language,
culture, etc.), among which the built environment is a significant one. The space
itself can be used to express certain political values. Thus, the forces in power
organise the public space in order to communicate a particular meaning used in
shaping the nation. This can be achieved in different ways, as Verdery affirms:
“among the most common ways in which political regimes mark
space are by placing particular statues in particular places and