Statue Stirs Right Royal Row in Romania

To most passers-by in Royal Palace Square in downtown Bucharest the new monument there is an impressive and good-looking architectural work. “I don’t know whose monument this is, but most likely it's one of our kings," muses 41-year-old Daria Oprea. "It looks nice, though I'm not sure it's the right time to be throwing away millions on such splendour," she adds.

The 13-meter-high equestrian statue in question is of Romania’s first monarch, Carol I. Re-erected this week on its original spot in central Bucharest, the original statue, also in bronze, was melted down by the new Communist regime in 1948, just after the monarchy was abolished. The bronze was used to build a statue of Lenin.

Carol was a German-born prince, from the cadet branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty, who became king of Romania in 1881. During his 48-year rule, Romania's economy, society and culture flourished.

While most historians welcome the re-erection of the statue as a step towards the country regaining control over its own history, some are critical over the way the new statue was made.

"I want to hail the fact that a statue of a Romanian king was replaced in its original place after 60 years. Carol is not only a symbol of royalty but a symbol of the historical continuity of Romania as an independent country," the well-known historian Andrei Pippidi says.

“The problem is that the authorities hired a poor sculptor to make a pale copy of the original, instead of using the original sketches of the world famous Croatian sculptor, Ivan Mestrovic," he adds. Pippidi says it is a shame that Romanians "have to accept a surrogate instead of a good piece of art".

Romanian media reported that the authorities failed to reach an agreement with the Mestrovic family over use of the original sketches, so they had to select a new sculptor to whom they paid around 2.26 million euro.

Royal Palace Square is the place where mass demonstrations occurred against the country's former dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, which ended in the fall of the Communist regime.