Bellu Cemetery (1858)
Take your time and browse through my Bucharest city tours to choose the one which suits you best! Bellu Cemetery is out of the usual touristic routes, but I would be delighted to include it in your customized private Bucharest tour.
If you have more than a day to spare in Bucharest consider including the Bellu Cemetery into your city tour. The oldest in Bucharest, dating back to the mid 19th century, Bellu Cemetery is a national Pantheon, sheltering the tombs of Romanian illustrious artists, writers and national heroes. It is a real open air museum of architecture as well, with funeral monuments of diverse architectural styles, ranging from the 19th century French style to the national Romanian style and Art Deco, many of which being listed by the National Institute for Historic Monuments. Bellu Cemetery was included among the cemeteries of cultural significance for European history at the September 2010 Congress of the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe (ASCE), a EU official association.
Bucharest Uncovered 
Hi Cristina!
I was in Bellu Cemetery yesterday, 17th March 2012 visiting the grave of an American Military ambulance driver from WW1, Private First Class EDWARD NEWELL WARE who died from smallpox on May 7th 1919, he survived being gassed in VERDUN France while working there as an Ambulance driver.
May he + Rest In Peace+
I have been visiting the military section, on the day after the Irish Embassy Saint Patrick’s Day function in Bucharest for 4 years now, being an ex-member of the Irish military and a United Nations Peace-keeping Force in South Lebanon, U.N.I.F.I.L. veteran I am married to a Romanian lady and living in Hunedoara county of Romania and very interested in military history concerning Romania.
I was very surprised and dismayed to have a Security Agent stop me from taking pictures in this beautiful old cemetery citing that it offends the families “privacy” rights!!! On my way out I saw indeed there are mow two small signs on the main gates saying video and cameras are forbidden.
If many of the objects in the cemetery have been listed as “National Institute for Historic Monuments” then surely the visitor / tourist has a right to discretely photograph them?
I understand the need for discretion, in the case of a religious service or burial is taking place, but, what harm is there in taking pictures?
I would even be willing to pay an entrance fee when visiting, in my opinion Bellu Cemetery has the potential of becoming a “gem” for tourists to visit in Bucharest, a city that has sadly lost so much of its architectural history, by events from the post WW2 period and on up to post 1989.
Or, is there a more darker side to the photo ban, the fact that a person with a camera can record / catalog the headstones and monuments and thus prevent any plot being sold via the back door, too those who feel their loved ones deserve to be buried in such a prestigious location, a location that gives an imagined status to certain elements of Bucharest “society”?
I have seen old military headstones removed from their position and thrown in the dirt, one to a General from the Royal period, and even if the family were not able to pay the rental fees for the plot for some reason is not the stone with the Generals picture, possibly the only picture which today could identify the man for historical purpose, deserve to be preserved as an historical item in its own right?
I for one would be sad to see this iconic Cemetery denuded of its historical items, or not be allowed to picture them for my own viewing pleasure.
If anybody has any thoughts please feel free to add them.