Văcărești Nature Park

Văcărești Park with Bucharest apartment buildings in the background
Văcărești Lake

Văcărești Nature Park (Romanian: Parcul Natural Văcărești) is a nature park in Bucharest, Romania, containing the wetlands surrounding Lake Văcărești.

History

Having 190 hectares,[1] the area where the park stands was part of a large swampy area on the outskirts of Bucharest.[2] To its west was the area known as the "valley of weeping" that was the rubbish dump of interbellum Bucharest.[2]

Much of the swampy area surrounding the park was drained by Socialist Romania, building a neighbourhood of apartment blocks, while the "valley of weeping" became Tineretului Park.[2]

President Nicolae Ceaușescu wanted to build a reservoir which was supposed to be filled from the Argeș River via the Mihăilești Lake.[2] As such, a concrete dam was built to surround the lake.[2] The few modest houses located in this area were bought by the state and demolished.[3]

In 2003, the Ministry of the Environment concessioned the area for 49 years to Royal Romanian Corporation for a $6 million.[4] The company was supposed to invest over a billion dollars in a sports-culture complex, however it did not honor its part of the contract.[4]

On June 5, 2014, the Lake Văcărești zone was declared protected zone and named Văcărești Nature Park by the Government of Romania.[5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Lascu, p. 38
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Lascu, p. 39
  3. ↑ Lascu, p. 40
  4. 1 2 Lascu, p. 45
  5. ↑ "2014-06-05:Government Decree Lacul Vacaresti" (PDF). Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. Retrieved 25 July 2014.

References

Coordinates: 44°23′59″N 26°08′03″E / 44.3996°N 26.1342°E / 44.3996; 26.1342

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.