Bucharest is the capital and largest city of Romania. Bucharest was first mentioned in documents in 1459. The city became the capital in 1862 and is the center of Romanian media, culture, and art. It is located in the southeast of Romania, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, and north of the Danube River and the border with Bulgaria.

Its architecture is a mix of historical, mostly Eclectic, but also Neoclassical and Art Nouveau, interbellum, Bauhaus, Art Deco, and Romanian Revival architecture, socialist era, and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nicknames of Little Paris or Paris of the East. Although buildings and districts in the historic city center were heavily damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes, and even Nicolae Ceaușescu's program of systematization, many survived and have been renovated.