The Romanian capital's most imposing landmark - constructed in neoclassical and "socialist realist" style - is also the world's second largest administrative building (after the U.S. Pentagon), it was commissioned by dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu. You can take tours of the structure, and in addition to still housing the national legislature, it's also home to a trio of museums: the Museum of the Palace, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, and the most recent, the eight-year-old Museum of Communist Totalitarianism.

Ștefan Jurcă