ABSTRACT
At the beginning of 20th century, Romania was much indebted to Western European architectural currents. The recently created national style had only a feeble impact on the public.
Foreign architecture, mainly Neoclassicism and Romanticism, was progressively introduced in the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia during the 19th century as a consequence of the process of opening up to Western European civilization. The two principalities, vassals of the Ottoman Empire, sought a model for emancipation and also political assistance, aspiring to create an independent unified state. After this state was founded in 1859, and particularly after it obtained its independence in 1878, its first institutions embraced foreign architectural currents as a sign of modernization. At this time, the most widespread was the ecclecticism of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, which eventually became the official style of the Romanian kingdom. French architecture was practiced not only by French nationals but also by the first Romanian architects, who were themselves trained at the École.
