Bucharest, as some of you may know, is the capital city of Romania, and has been so for just over 150 years, but the city itself is quite a bit older than that. First mentioned in 1459 when it became Vlad the Impaler’s residence, Prince of what was then known as Wallachia, the city started competing for the title of capital city, after subsequent rulers made it their court’s summer residence. It finally achieved its status as capital city after Wallachia and Moldavia united to form the Principality of Romania, in 1862.