Cenușa crematorium in Bucharest is located on a hill in Tineretului Park and is a place full of symbolism. With the support of the Capital City Hall, the "Cenușa" Society starts construction in 1925, according to the plans of Duiliu Marcu. The source of inspiration for the imposing construction was Cavoul Cantacuzino from the Şerban Vodă "Bellu" Cemetery, which had Ion Mincu as its architect. The crematorium can only be visited by appointment, by written request to ACCU
Built in the vicinity of the place that was previously called Valea Pângerii, the asphalt that surrounds the construction, seen from the satellite, has the shape of a tear. The Cenusha Crematorium was inaugurated on January 25, 1928. The first cremation took place on the same day at 5 p.m., Profira Fieraru, 40 years old and a housewife, was the first person to be cremated at the Cenusha Crematorium.
Over time, almost 60,000 people were cremated here. In May 2002, the crematorium ceased its incineration activity because it violated environmental legislation by lacking filters and modern facilities. However, the crematorium has not completely closed, its columbarium continues to function as a space for keeping urns with ashes, against an annual fee.
The general councilors of Bucharest rejected in January 2011 the project to allocate the sum of 1.16 million euros for the rehabilitation of the Cenuşa Crematorium. For almost 10 years, the only human crematorium that operated in Romania was the Vitan-Bârzeşti Crematorium, from Bucharest. In 2012, a human incinerator was opened in Oradea and in 2014, the Ignis human crematorium was opened located in Moldovenești near Cluj.
Until the development of Bucharest's natural gas supply networks, coal (coke) and wood were used as fuels. Starting from the 40'-50's, methane gas was used to heat the crematorium ovens.