Statue of Mihai Viteazul

During your tour to University Square, you will see the Statue of Mihai Viteazul, which was the first Romanian ruler to realize the unification of the three historical Romanian provinces. It is an equestrian statue and also the oldest statue in Bucharest.

The statue was initially called the Statue of Mihai Bravul Unificatorul (Michael the Brave the Unifier), was made by the French sculptor Albert Ernest Carrier Belleuse, the maestro of the famous Rodin. He built the statue in Paris and set it on its pedestal in 1874. It was inaugurated in 1876, but with much controversy.

Mihai Viteazul was the Prince of both Transylvania and Moldavia. He unified the three Principalities: Wallachia, Transylvania, and Moldovia. For this reason, Prince Carol I didn't want to upset his Habsburg relatives and the statue remained unrevealed.

Mihai Viteazul was considered the ruler of Transylvania and he is considered to be a symbol of Romania's independence. This was the reason why the Ottoman Empire also opposed the unveiling of his statue.
Seeing that the statue of Mihai Viteazul remained unveiled, Matei Millo, a famous Romanian actor, and playwright decided to ridicule the authorities' decision to keep the statue unveiled.

Therefore, every evening, he brought on the stage of the National Theater a gentleman named Mihai, whom he had put with a bag on his head, as a sign of protest that the statue of Mihai Viteazul was still covered.

View in Google maps

Another form of protest for the statue of Mihai Viteazul to be unveiled was that of Badea Cârțan. He was a famous Romanian peasant who fought for the independence of the Romanians from Transylvania by clandestinely distributing Romanian books. In 1864, with an unparalleled love for the Romanians, together with his flock of sheep, he illegally crossed the border between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Romania in order to see the country where he had heard that his Romanian brothers lived. The same love for the Romanian people, made him walk to Rome to see the Trajan's Column, which is a testimony of the Latin origin of the Romanian people. Having heard about the statue of Mihai Viteazul, in 1895, he walked from Transylvania to Bucharest. On a frosty night, wearing only a coat, he spent the night at the feet of the great voivode, the hero of his country, Mihai Viteazul.

Nowadays, the statue goes almost unnoticed by people in a hurry to get to duty on time. We recommend you take a break from your tour and admire it because Mihai Viteazul was one of Romania's greatest national heroes.