Foisorul de Foc

The Foișorul de Foc, literally the Fire Watchtower, is a 42-meter-tall (138-foot) structure in Bucharest that was built in 1890 to plans by the city's then chief architect, George Mandrea. It originally served as a lookout tower for firefighters to watch for fires; a planned use as a water tower never materialized because there were no pumps strong enough. As the growing number of high-rises and the introduction of the telephone made the tower's function obsolete, it was taken out of service in 1935. Since 1963, the building has housed a firefighting museum, which reopened in September 2024 after a comprehensive restoration that began in 2021.