Carol Park 5.54

Carol Park is a public park in Bucharest, Romania, named after King Carol I of Romania. A French garden located in the southern-central area of Bucharest, partly on Filaret hill, originally capable of hosting various exhibitions, it suffered considerable modifications during the communist regime, including a name change to Parcul Libertății .The park has officially been listed as a historical monument since 2004. Administration of the park is undertaken mostly by the Bucharest City Hall, whereas monuments are in the care of the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.HistoryThe park was designed by French landscape artist Édouard Redont in 1900 on Filaret Hill, under the supervision of Constantin Istrati, then president of the Romanian Academy. It was inaugurated in 1906, on the 40th anniversary of the coronation of King Carol I. The park had an initial surface area of 36 hectares, including the 20,000m² lake Filaret. It hosted the 1906 Bucharest Exhibition, and included many pavilions and buildings, of which only the Technical Museum and the open air Roman Arenas survive.The park once contained busts of Ioan Lahovari and Constantin Istrati, but these were replaced after 1948 with busts of George Coşbuc, Alexandru Sahia, Nicolae Bălcescu (these three by Constantin Baraschi) and the "shoemaker poet" Theodor Neculuță (by E. Mereanu), which remain today.