Bucharest is the capital city and industrial and commercial center of Romania.
From the 1870s until the late 1920s the city began its most beautiful metamorphosis from a giant village with muddy streets to one of Eastern Europe's most attractive destinations.
In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite gave Bucharest the nickname of the "Paris of the East" or "Little Paris".

Bucharest has gone through a variety of changes and has become the center of the Romanian mass media, cultural and arts scenes. Its architecture, which is a mix of historical, Communist and modern, also reflects the city's varied history.
Bucharest has a number of landmarks that are identified with it throughout the world. Perhaps the most prominent of these is the Palace of the Parliament, which was built in the 1980s during the reign of Communist dictator Ceauşescu. Currently the largest building in Europe and the third-largest in the world, it is worth visiting.
Other buildings worth seeing are the Czech embassy, the Romanian Commercial Bank, and the Garlic roofed Russian church.