Unfinished "hunger circus" in Rahova, 2006

"Hunger circus" (Romanian: Circ al foamei) was a colloquial name for any in a series of identical buildings which were to be completed as part of Nicolae Ceauşescu's program of systematization during his period as ruler of Romania. Rahova is a neighbourhood of southwest Bucharest, Romania, situated in Sector 5, west of Dâmboviţa River. Romanian or Daco-Romanian ( dated: Rumanian or Roumanian; self designation limba română, ˈlimba roˈmɨnə is a Romance Nicolae Ceauşescu (nikoˈlaje tʃauˈʃesku (January 26 1918 – December 25 1989 was the communist dictator of Romania from 1965 until December 1989 when a revolution Systematization in Romania refers to a program of Urban planning carried out under Nicolae Ceauşescu 's communist regime. Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania Officially designated by the communist regime as "agro-alimentary complexes", the large domed buildings were intended as produce markets and public refectories. Trapeza redirects here for the prehistoric Greek settlement see Trapeza Crete. It appears to have been Ceauşescu's vision that they would serve as food hypermarkets, eliminating the need for selling or distributing food anywhere else. In Commerce, a hypermarket is a superstore which combines a Supermarket and a Department store.

The name "hunger circuses", now so universally used as to have almost suppressed the memory of the official communist-era term, derived from the circus-like domed architecture and the irony of constructing these massive food-related buildings during a period when food was scarce throughout Romania (due to Ceauşescu's policy of exporting most of Romania's agricultural produce in order to pay off the foreign debt). The irony was reinforced by the connotation of "circus" as ridiculous farce.

At the time of Ceauşescu's downfall and execution, only two hunger circuses had been completed: one of these, Pantelimon, now forms part of a public market in the Delfinului area of Bucharest; the other, also in Bucharest, is placed close to the Unirea shopping mall, nestled between Piaţa Unirii and Sfânta Vineri Street. Bucharest ( Romanian: Bucureşti) is the Capital city, industrial and commercial centre of Romania. Unirea Shopping Center is a shopping mall located in Unirii Square, Bucharest, Romania. Piaţa Unirii (meaning "Union Square" in Romanian) is one of the largest squares in central Bucharest, located in center of the city where Sectors Several others stood half-finished in scattered locations around Bucharest, surrounded by rusting construction cranes and vacant lots.

With transcendent irony, the hunger circuses left unfinished after the 1989 Revolution were later completed, under a revised architectural plan, as eminently capitalist malls such as Bucharest Mall, City Mall and Plaza România. The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a week-long series of increasingly violent riots and fighting in late December 1989 that overthrew the Communist regime of Nicolae The Bucureşti Mall is a Shopping mall located in Bucharest, Romania, close to the Dudeşti and Văcăreşti neighbourhoods The Plaza Romania is one of Romania 's largest shopping centres The hunger circus in Rahova was demolished in November 2006 to make room for a new mall. Rahova is a neighbourhood of southwest Bucharest, Romania, situated in Sector 5, west of Dâmboviţa River. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Another hunger circus was transformed into a private university.

References

• "Circurile foamei", Jurnalul Naţional, 23 January 2005
• "Circul foamei din Rahova se transformă în mall", Cotidianul, 14 February 2006