Palatul Primaverii (Spring Palace)

Down an unassuming boulevard in the wealthy Dorobanti district of Bucharest, Palatul Primaverii (Spring Palace) is the former home of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena, who lived there for the last 25 years of their lives, before their execution in 1989. Opened to the public in March 2016, the house shows the opulent surroundings the couple lived in while much of the country subsisted on rations. Carpets given by the last Shah of Iran, paintings taken from the country’s former royal palaces, and rooms done up in the style of Versailles hardly attest to a couple in touch with the lives of the common man. The palace remains largely untouched since the 1989 revolution, even down to the couple’s wardrobes and pyjamas lying on their bed, enabling visitors to get a real glimpse into the lives of the former first couple.