The civic centre of Bucharest, anchored by the University of Bucharest's neoclassical main building, the National Theatre, the Sutu Palace (now the Bucharest City Museum), and the InterContinental Hotel. Four statues of Romanian historical figures — Mihai Viteazul, Spiru Haret, Gheorghe Lazăr, and Ion Heliade-Rădulescu — stand in a row.
The square has been the stage for every major political moment in modern Bucharest, from the 1989 revolution to the 2017 anti-corruption protests that drew over half a million people. Black crosses inset into the paving stones near University Square metro mark the dead of those events. Day-to-day the square is also one of the busiest public spaces in the city, especially after midnight when the bars of Lipscani spill out toward it.