Micul Stambul

Hanul lui Manuc vazut dinspre Piata Unirii

Mi-am petrecut cea mai mare parte a vietii in Bucuresti. Am devenit washingtonian de vreo cinci ani de abia. Si oricum, ma voi intoarce in Romania.

In copilarie am invatat ca Bucurestiul era Micul Paris. Ca sa fiu drept, am crezut multa vreme ca era o exagerare, insa in 1999, dupa o saptamana petrecuta in orasul de pe Sena, mi-am dat seama ca multe strazi din Bucuresti au intr-adevar un aer parizian. Si exista o gramada de cladiri superbe, care si-ar avea locul in orice cartier aristocratic din vestul Europei.

Insa acest aer parizian este mult mai tanar decat Bucurestii. Orasul ascunde in el ceva mult mai statornic. Un ceva care iese la iveala in bisericile bucurestene, in cateva case sau pe unele strazi, ramase neatinse de sistematizarile care s-au tot facut. Este de fapt un duh al locului, al asezarii, chiar daca strazile arata altfel azi, iar mahalele vechi cu curti si livezi si maidane au disparut. Un spiritus loci ascuns foarte aproape de suprafata, asteptand sa fie scos la iveala.

Bucurestii sunt de fapt un Mic Stambul (sau poate un Mic Fanar). Duhul acesta balcanic este evident in bisericutele ortodoxe, dar nu numai in ele: la Washington pe strada 18 exista un restaurant turcesc care are pe unul din pereti o imagine a unei piete moderne din Istanbul. Ei bine, aceeasi structura cu a Pietei Unirii din Bucuresti: cladirile asezate la fel, spatiile verzi, fantanile, toate asternand acelasi drum luminii zilei.

Voi reveni.

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I came to spend three weeks of vacation in Bucharest, Romania. Here are my first impressions.

I spent most part of my life in Bucharest - I became a Washingtonian only five years ago. Anyway, I intend to return to Romania.

As a child, I learned that Bucharest was a small Paris. For many years I thought that this was an exaggeration - but after one week spent in Paris, I realized that many streets of Bucharest had really a Parisian air - and anyway, there were a lot of styled houses, looking greatly Parisian.

Piata Amzei: Casa Mitzei Biciclista, langa casele Bratienilor

Only this Parisian air was much younger than Bucharest - and the city was hiding something that was much older: in its churches, perhaps in some of its neighborhoods, in very few houses - actually there was a spirit of the place - even if those old neighborhoods had vanished, the spiritus loci was there, hidden, waiting to be discovered.

Biserica Amzei

Bucharest was also a small Istanbul (or maybe a small Phanar). The spirit is still in its small Eastern Orthodox churches, and not only: once I saw in a Turkish restaurant on the 18th Street a large photograph of a modern plaza in Istanbul. Well, the whole was very much alike with the modern structure of Unirii Plaza in Bucharest. The same structure: the buildings, the green spaces, were organized the same way, creating the same path for the light.

Fantana in curtea Bisericii Amzei

(Bucuresti)