Romania has lost more heritage buildings in the last 25 years than were demolished during the communist regime. Architects say it, historians say it, we all see it as well. Some were demolished or abandoned to make way for new, bigger, and more profitable buildings, others were given up, either due to the uncertain ownership or lack of money. All this happened with the complicity of the authorities, who out of incompetence and helplessness or due to corruption did nothing to protect our heritage.
In order to contribute to the improvement of this situation, in 2017 we developed the ‘Forgotten City project. Bring Monuments to life’, a PressHub-run project. What started as an initiative partially funded by the National Cultural Fund Administration has become a veritable press campaign. Many articles highlighting the historical and cultural importance of these buildings and the state in which they are now being taken over by publications, television and radio stations.
The Forgotten City campaign aimed to map the type of threat to heritage buildings in 11 major cities in Romania (such as Bucharest, Iasi, Timisoara, Constanta, etc.) and publish and share articles on various monuments and heritage buildings.
To date, more than 100 articles have been published on the PressHub platform. We intend to continue the series of articles with the same purpose: to bring into public discussion the problems heritage buildings face in Romania today.