The Palace of the Parliament (Romanian: Palatul Parlamentului) is the seat of the Parliament of Romania. Located on Dealul Arsenalului in central Bucharest (Sector 5), it is the second-largest administrative building in the world,[1] after the Pentagon in the United States. With a height of 84 m, an area of 365,000 m2 and having a volume of 2,550,000 m3, it is also the fourth biggest building in the world, after the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Temple of the Feathered Serpent in Teotihuacan, Mexico, and the Pentagon. In terms of weight, the Palace of the Parliament is the heaviest building in the world, weighing in at around 4,098,500,000 kg.

A colossal parliament building known for its ornate interior composed of 23 sections, it houses the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, three museums and an international conference center. The National Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Communist Totalitarianism (established in 2015)[3] and the Museum of the Palace are hosted inside the Palace. Though named the House of the Republic (Romanian: Casa Republicii), after the Romanian Revolution in 1989 it became widely known as the People's House (Romanian: Casa Poporului). Due to its impressive endowments, conferences, symposiums and other events are organised by state institutions and international bodies, but even so about 70% of the building is empty.[4][5]

In 1990, Australian business magnate Rupert Murdoch wanted to buy the building for US$1 billion, but his bid was rejected.[6] As of 2008, the Palace of the Parliament is valued at €3 billion ($3.4 billion), making it the most expensive administrative building in the world.[7] The cost of heating and electric lighting alone exceeds $6 million per year, as much as a medium-sized city