Demolition of old Bucharest and the House of the People

Using the 1977 earthquake as a pretext, Nicolae Ceaușescu had large parts of Bucharest's historic centre torn down in the 1980s, including old churches, the Văcărești monastery and thousands of homes, to make way for a monumental Civic Centre. Its core, the House of the People, is the world's largest civilian administrative building. Unfinished when he fell, it now houses Romania's parliament.