Bellu Cemetery

Bellu Cemetery—officially Șerban Vodă Cemetery—began in the middle of the nineteenth century as Bucharest expanded beyond its older churchyard burial grounds. The University of Bucharest Museum dates its founding to 1859 and identifies the land with Baron Barbu Bellu. Municipal sources give 1858 as the opening year, so the beginning is best placed around 1858–59 rather than assigned a false precision.

Over time, the cemetery became more than a place for burial. The University Museum describes a dense collection of graves belonging to people important in Romania’s public and cultural history, alongside the graves of ordinary residents. Many monuments became works of architecture and sculpture in their own right. The cemetery is now a protected historic ensemble and is recognized by European cemetery heritage organizations.