Dorobanți

The Dorobanți area borders the CBD and Floreasca-Barbu Văcărescu office hubs, where more than 80,000 people work.

District 1 covers the northern and north-western part of Bucharest. With 264,185 residents, it is the least populous of the six administrative sectors, accounting for 12.5% of Bucharest's population of 2,108,049. At 68 km², however, it is by far the largest by land area — more than a quarter of the city's 236 km² — and holds 163,088 dwellings, or 15.1% of the capital's housing stock of 1,082,392.

About the area

The area, at a glance

Dorobanți combines prestige addresses with dense urban life: restaurants, embassies and elegant buildings between Piața Dorobanți and Capitale. The area attracts buyers who want status and immediate access to everything that matters in the city. Quality properties hold their value.

History

Calea Dorobanților appears in documents as early as 1831, as an unpaved road linking Podul Mogoșoaiei (today Calea Victoriei) to the Herăstrău area, through orchards and farmland. The name dates from 1878, in memory of the dorobanți troops who fought at Plevna, Vidin and Grivița. After 1880, the area entered a period of intense urbanisation, with residences designed by architects such as Albert Galeron, Paul Gottereau, Louis Blanc and S. Mayer. The district's main building phase came in the 1930s, under strict rules: height capped at 14 metres, mandatory street trees, on-street parking banned. The Neo-Romanian, Art Deco and French eclectic villas built then established Dorobanți as the district of aristocratic families. During the communist period, many villas were nationalised and turned into embassies, government offices or collective housing.

Amenities and access

Access relies on two metro stations: Aviatorilor (M2), on the edge of the district, with entrances from Piața Charles de Gaulle, Bd. Aviatorilor and Calea Dorobanți, and Piața Victoriei (M1/M2), on the southern boundary, a few steps away. Car traffic runs along Calea Dorobanților and Calea Floreasca, and from Piața Victoriei you get straight onto Șoseaua Kiseleff and Bd. Aviatorilor towards Herăstrău and the northern boulevards, and towards Henri Coandă International Airport via DN1.

Landmarks in the area include:

Herăstrău Park, on the district's northern edge
Șoseaua Kiseleff / Kiseleff Park, a historic tree-shaded park boulevard
Piața Victoriei, at the southern end of Calea Dorobanților
Numerous embassies, set up in former villas
A network of nurseries and schools, including high schools, concentrated in the area
Bistros and restaurants along Calea Dorobanților