Scala Cinema, București

Through its’ history, Bucharest has had a colossal number of cinemas. Gloria, Patria or Scala are names of places where the citizens of Bucharest have discovered the joy of film and came back to, each time, to see the newest additions in cinemas.

The Scala building from Magheru Boulevard was realized in 1935 by Rudolf Fränkel, one of the best architects of the avant-garde Berlin of the 1930s. The building is a historic monument, and standing at its’ ground floor is one of the remains of the cinematic history of Romania: Scala Cinema.

The building suffered a lot following the devastating earthquake of 1977. Actually, the entire Magheru Boulevard, on which multiple cinemas were situated, like Scala and Patria, was hit strongly. The Scala building was a very important construction of the interwar romanian architecture, being situated at the crossroads between C.A.Rosetti streets and Magheru Boulevard and Bălcescu Boulevard.

The Scala building was, however, as unsafe as it was beautiful. It was realised without taking any seismic norms into account, and the 1977 earthquake destroyed it completely, after it was already damaged following the 1940 earthquake. In its’ place a new building was constructed, that has the same name, but doesn’t rival the beauty of the one that fell 41 years ago.

The cinema was also ill-fated. His ownership was changed and it became property of RADEF (Regia Autonomă a Distribuției și Exploatării Filmelor). Scala was in the middle of a restitution process towards their former owners, but not before its’ cultural legacy was destroyed. For a period, the cinema was rent to a Church called Biserica Isus Speranța României and so, one of the representants of the 7th art in Romania became a place of preaching and prayer.