The hermetically sealed heavy steel door to the bunker of Romania's late communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, opens with a squeak, releasing a burst of cool air.
The bunker sits two levels beneath a lavish villa in an upmarket neighborhood in Bucharest, Ceausescu's private residence through the 24 years he ruled Romania, one of Eastern Europe's most repressive Cold War-era regimes.
"It is a transitional bunker," said tour guide Roxana Iliescu, pointing out that, with no bathroom or kitchen, it could not have been lived in for any long period.