Initially a vineyard known as
Dealul Lupeștilor ('Hill of the Lupescu family'), it was renamed after a certain doctor Spiridon "Spirea" Kristofi, who founded the fortified
Spirea Veche church in 1765. The church was demolished in 1984 to make place for the ''People's House''. Also on the hill were found the ruins of
Curtea Nouă ('the New Court'), the princely residence built in 1776 by
Alexander Ypsilantis,
Prince of
Wallachia, to replace
Curtea Veche ('the Old Court'). It was built together with a large
wine cellar, still in use during the 1900s. Curtea Nouă was the official residence of the
Phanariotes (members of upper-class Greek families from
Constantinople's
Phanári quarter, chosen by the
Sublime Porte as rulers of Wallachia and
Moldavia) until 1812, when it burnt down; it was since known as
Curtea Arsă ('the Burnt Court'), with the ruins being razed completely in 1986. In July 1818, Dealul Spirii was the site of a
hot air balloon flight, an event witnessed by Prince
John Caradja. , 1848 On 13 September 1848, the
closing battle of the
1848 Wallachian Revolution was fought on the hill, involving the
Ottoman troops sent to quell the rebellion, and some infantry troops along with the
fire brigade of Bucharest, led by Pavel Zăgănescu. In 1861, the
Bucharest Army Arsenal was established on the hill. which led to its alternate name,
Dealul Arsenalului. '' on Spirii Hill (1857 lithograph) After
World War I, the hill gave its name to the famous
Dealul Spirii Trial, which involved members of the
Romanian Communist Party, after a bomb was detonated on 8 December 1920 in the
Romanian Senate (situated on the hill), which was detonated by
Max Goldstein, a
communist sympathizer. Also located on this hill was
Stadionul Republicii, an
Art deco stadium inaugurated in 1928 as the ANEF Stadium (the stadium of the National Academy of Physical Education) and used by the
Progresul football team, now known as
FC Național. The stadium was covered up during the construction of the People's House. The remnants of the stadium were converted in 2006 into an underground parking lot. The quarter located around the hill was named after its main thoroughfare, Uranus, which ran up the hill from
Calea Rahovei to the Stadium, and thence to ('Independence Quay') and
Izvor. Uranus was one of the historic districts completely destroyed by Ceaușescu's
communist regime, in order to build the People's House (see
Ceaușima), part of the larger project involving Bucharest's new
Civic Centre. Dealul Spirii has been the site of many historic buildings, including a number of churches and synagogues. When the hill was razed, a
mass grave was also discovered, containing the remains of people killed by the
Black Death. ==Notes==