Description of the attraction
The territory of Harastrau Park is located around the lake of the same name in the northern part of Bucharest. This green island within the city was established in 1936. However, back in 1831, the ruler of Wallachia, Alexander Ipsilanti, built a summer house in the Ottoman style on the shore of the lake - for the rest of the princely family. And immediately the lake became a popular walking place for the Romanian elite.
To create a real park around the lake, it was necessary to drain a vast area, which was a wetland. This work lasted almost five years, but it was worth it: the created park immediately received the status of one of the most beautiful places in the capital. Its area gradually expanded due to the demolition of nearby old houses that were not of historical value. By the time it opened to the public in May 1939, the Park was already considered the largest in the capital.
Its names changed - in different periods of the country's life: Karol II Park, National Park and even Stalin Park. The park received its current name after the 1989 revolution.
The green area is divided into two parts. One of them is the Open-Air Village Museum named after Dimitrie Gusti, a Romanian ethnographer. This is another place where you can get acquainted with the life of the peasants of medieval Romania. Wooden huts and other rural buildings of the XVI-XVIII were brought from all over the country to create the most realistic picture of the life and culture of the past.
The second part, the public recreation area, includes many terraces, an old-fashioned fairground, quays, a boat dock, tennis courts and other sports facilities. All this is among quiet alleys and small fountains.
All hotels are located outside the Park, the construction of restaurants is minimized, traffic in the green zone is prohibited. This also contributes to the fact that Harastrau Park has been and remains a favorite vacation spot for residents and visitors of Bucharest.
