This is the famous (infamous?) Palatul Parliamentului, originally called Casa Republicii, built by Nicolai Ceausescu in his megalomanic phase. It is the second largest building in the world (in volume) after the U.S. Pentagon. Of course, its construction and the construction of the magnificent boulevard leading to it resulted in the demolition of a large part of central Bucharest and the displacement of thousands of residents. This was one of the main affronts that caused the Romanian people to turn against him, which resulted in him and his wife being the only Eastern Bloc leaders to be violently overthrown and then executed when the Iron Curtain fell.