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The first equestrian statue of King Carol I in Bucharest was created in 1939 by the Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović. The inauguration was held on Romania's National Day of May 10, 1939. Because the monument stood in a large square opposite the Royal Palace, it witnessed many significant events of the inter-war era and during World War II, becoming one of the well-known visual symbols of Bucharest, present on numerous photos, postcards, etc.
Celebrations in Bucharest marking the return of Northern Transylvania. 14 March 1945
In the night of December 30/31, 1947, after King Michael I abdicated the throne, the Communist government demolished the statue—an important visual symbol of monarchy—from its pedestal. The statue was destroyed in 1948.
The new King Carol I statue by Florin Codre
The new statue of King Carol I, a work by Florin Codre. The façade behind it is the library of "Carol I University Foundation"
In 2007, 18 years after the Romanian anti-Communist Revolution, the Bucharest City Hall decided to recreate the destroyed statue and locate it at the original place. A small-scale model of Meštrović's original work was in possession of the sculptor's family, but an agreement was never signed, due to City Hall's inability to meet the financial requirements.
Romanian sculptor Florin Codre was tasked to create a new statue, visually similar to Meštrović's, but not an exact copy.
Since then, the statue has regained its public significance as a tourist sightseeing place in Bucharest. Various public events are periodically held in front of it, especially the annual festivity of May 10, connected with several events related to Romanian monarchy: Carol I's first arrival in Bucharest (in 1866), Carol's formal approval of the declaration of independence proclaimed on May 9, 1877, and Carol I's coronation as King of Romania (in 1881).
Possible survival of the old King Carol I statue
There are rumors that the old statue of King Carol I is currently buried in front of the Palace of Agriculture in Brăila, where Soviet occupying forces would have located it during World War II.[1]
It is also possible that the house of the equestrian statue was used for another statue for the Russian general Alexander Suvorov located in Dragosloveni, but this is not confirmed.
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