No stranger to architectural folly, Nicolae Ceausescu bulldozed the magic out of 'little Paris' to construct an egotistical, North Korea-style monument to hardline Stalinism. Now Bucharest is gearing up to add the region's largest cathedral to its overflowing CV, alongside the world's second largest public building (Ceausescu's Palace of the People, second to the Pentagon), the largest hotel and the largest shopping mall in South East Europe.

Construction of the Cathedral of the Redeemer is due to begin this year and wrap up in 2013, it'll cost 400 million euros, most of which comes from a much criticised government loan, and at 120 metres high, it'll dwarf the current tallest – Bosnia and Herzegovina's Church of St Peter and St Paul in Mostar – by just shy of thirteen metres.

Journalist Laurentiu Mihu complained to Balkan Insight, “This project is too much extravagant and a new cathedral is not a priority for Romania. Instead, the Church should do something real for the redemption and development of society by putting these enormous sums into a huge nationwide social project."

Bucharest passed the point of no return a considerable time ago and the sheer scale and crassness of the Communist-era reconstruction is undoubtedly part of its appeal, nevertheless with existing Orthodox churches and historic buildings crying out for a bit of love amid the smog and bustle, the Cathedral of the Redeemer is going to meet with little enthusiasm from travellers.