Following the 1977 Vrancea earthquake, Bucharest's city center suffered significant damage, and a large number of historic buildings were demolished to make way for the new Centrul Civic ("Civic Center"; see systematization and Ceaușima). As part of the project, "Bulevardul Unirii" was to be Communist Romania's answer to Paris's "Avenue des Champs-Élysées", with a length of 3,500 m. Construction began on June 25, 1984. Initially called "Bulevardul Victoria Socialismului" ("Victory of Socialism Boulevard"), the road is lined with socialist-realist apartment blocks of North Korean inspiration.