Centenary of the General Exhibition and of the Carol I Park in Bucharest – 1906

Romfilatelia, the company specialized in issuing and trading Romanian postage stamps, introduces into circulation a philatelic issue dedicated to the Centenary of the General Exhibition and of the Carol I Park in Bucharest.

The General Exhibition was organized in the Carol I Park (formerly called the Filaret Hill) in 1906, with the purpose of presenting Romania’s achievements in the field of internal politics, of external politics, as well as of culture, through achievements in the fields of literature, music, painting, theatre, architecture etc.

King Carol I inaugurated the Exhibition on the 6th of June 1906. In that year, Romania celebrated 1800 years since the establishment of the first Roman colonists on our land (106 A.D.) and since the conquest of Dacia by Trajan, 40 years of reign for King Carol I and 25 years since the Romanian Princedoms had become a Kingdom.

The project, coordinated by he architect I. D. Berindei, was inspired by the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1900 and contained pavilions dedicated to industry, trade, agriculture, forestry, mines, as well as culture and arts. The architects of the exhibition were Victor Stefanescu and Stefan Burcus, joined by renowned engineers. Not all works of construction and setting of the material were finished by the official inauguration.

The opening gala, adjourned because of the rainy weather, took place on the 6th of June. Taking part in the inauguration were the entire government, the royal family, members of the administration, foreign guests, members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Bucharest, except for the legation of the Ottoman Empire. The battery from Calafat, called “Carol I”, had the honor of shooting the gunfire that marked the official opening of the exhibition. The royal family was welcomed when entering the park, through the circular arc gate, by the organizers, the government and a group of 300 notaries, mayors and headmost villagers from all the counties of the country. At the Roman Arenas, I. Lahovari, C. I. Istrati and King Carol I held their spechees.

Besides the pavilions dedicated to Romania, there were also the pavilions of France, Hungary and Austria. On the Trocadero hill there was the Arts Palace. Accomplished by the engineer Grant and designed by Victor Stefanescu, on a area of more than 2000 square meters, it was a grandiose construction, erected in a very short time. Later, it became the building of the Military Museum. Under the terrace “A. I. Cuza” located in front of the Arts Palace, there was a cave and a water basin. Also called the “Giants’ Cave” or the “Charmed Cave”, its entrance presented a monumental assembly composed of three statues. It is worth mentioning that the assembly was the creation of three architects: Filip Marin sculpted the “Beauty asleep” out of marble, and Dumitru Paciurea and Frederic Stork created the two giants of stone. The giants were placed one in front of each other, and the between them the “Beauty asleep” as lying down.

The Waters Castle, where the water reservoir of the park is, built entirely of stone, also called the Tepes Tower, was inspired by the citadel of Vlad the Impaler of Arges Gorge. The tower, 32 m high, was also used for light shows.

The Roman Arenas, a work of the engineer Elie Radu, with a maximum capacity of 5000 places, was the venue of the exhibition’s opening and closing galas and of other cultural and artistic events that gave the occasion to claiming the unity of blood and language of all Romanians. At the Jubilee high foreign officials participated as well. The mayor of Vienna was warmly welcomed, as well as the delegation of the city of Rome. As a sign of the Latinity of Romanians, Bucharest received as a gift from Rome a copy of the She-Wolf whose original is on the Capitol.

The jubilee year and the first National Exhibition witnessed an important philatelic issue and also plaques and medals. Many postcards were printed, presenting the pavilions of the exhibition. The closing gala took place on the 23rd of November 1906, but in the absence of King Carol I, who couldn’t make it because of health problems. Queen Elisabeth and the princely couple, Prince Ferdinand and Princess Maria were present. The discourse uttered by Ion Lahovari on that day thoroughly showed the objectives aimed at by the organizers: “we intended to show foreigners and Romanians what Romania was aforetime and what it is today after 40 years of the glorious reign of King Carol I… we wanted for the foreigners to know us just like the Romanians, and even to know each other better, to be aware that between the Danube and the Carpathians there is an industrious, brave and wise people that lives, grows and become stronger, that is governed by a patriot and wise King.”

The philatelic issue includes 6 postage stamps and a miniature sheet; all of them show images of some pavilions within the General Exhibition of 1906.

The postage stamp with the face value of Lei 0.30 exhibits the Main entrance of Carol I Park.

The postage stamp with the face value of Lei 0.50 presents the Tepes Castle.

The postage stamp with the face value of Lei 1.00 exhibits the Post Office Pavilion.

The postage stamp with the face value of Lei 1.20 shows the Danube European Commission Pavilion.

The postage stamp with the face value of Lei 1.60 exhibits the Industry Palace.

The postage stamp with the face value of Lei 2.20 presents the Roman Arenas.

The miniature sheet of the issue with the face value of Lei 2.20 exhibits the Arts Palace.

The issue is completed by a set of 2 maxicards.