Charles de Gaulle Square, Bucharest
Charles de Gaulle Square is a square in Bucharest, Sector 1, located at the intersection of Bulevardelor Aviatorilor, Constantin Prezan, Primaverii and Calea Dorobantilor.
Over time, the market has had several names. It was originally called Jianu Square, in memory of one of Tudor Vladimirescu's pandurs. However, during the interwar period, the name was changed to M. Eminescu Square.
During the Second World War, when Romania was allied with Nazi Germany, the square was called Adolf Hitler, after the Coup of 23 August 1944 returning to the old name.
In the early period of communism in Romania, in honor of Stalin, the square was rechristened Generalissim IV Stalin Square, the statue of him being installed at the entrance to Herastrau Park, which forms one side of the square.
After Stalin's death, the square became Aviator Square, due to its proximity to the Air Heroes Monument, also known as the Aviator Statue.
After 1989, Piata Aviatorilor was renamed Piata Charles de Gaulle.
In the center of the roundabout in the middle of the square, a monument was mounted, which was commissioned to the artist Paul Neagu in 1991 by Andrei Pleșu, then Minister of Culture, and inaugurated in September 1997, with the official name "Crucea Secolului". The monument consists of a six-meter high bronze lenticular disc, in which a series of rhomboidal perforations forming a cross of light are cut, and it was intended as a commemorative monument of the anti-communist uprising at the end of 1989, also known as the Romanian Revolution of 1989.
On September 26, 2006, on the occasion of the festivities occasioned by the High Level Meeting of Francophonie, in Bucharest, the square was beautified with a monument representing Charles de Gaulle.
