Buda

 

Buda Castle Palace ( Budavári Palota) I, Vár hegy

 

 

The vast pile that commands the southern end of Castle Hill is the last in a line of palaces built here since the early-medieval period. Béla IV first chose to construct a town here in the 13^th century, surrounded by a defensive wall and with a fort to the south.

After the demise of  the Árpád dynasty, the Angevin kings also established strongholds, with Prince István ’the Angry’ ( Haragos) building a keep whose foundations still exist, and Lajos Nagy ( Louis the Great) erecting his palace on the same site.

 

However the golden age of the royal complex came during the 15^th century. First Zsigmond of Luxembourg ( 1387-1437), King of Hungary and Holy Roman Emperor, established a considerably larger Gothic palace ( featuring the renowned Knights’ Hall). After that the cultured and progressive Mátyás Hunyadi (1458-90) expanded upon it with a Renaissance flourish. His second wife, Beatrice, was from Naples, and brought with her a gaggle of Italian artists  and a legendarily hospitable nature. Scholars and gentlemen from all over Europe flocked to the majestic palace, with its fine art and marble details.

The library – the Bibliotheca Corviniana -  was  among the world’s richest, holding 2,000 books and manuscripts. Scattered by the Turks, today only 200 remain worldwide  ( 33 of them in the current National Széchenyi Library).

The palace fell into decline under Ottoman occupation. It was finally put out of its misery in 1686, when Buda was liberated but its greatest building reduced to rubble.

The country’s Habsburg rulers began anew. Maria Theresa ( 1740-1780) enlarged upon her father’s baroque palace; it became the residence of the palatines, and from 1776 also held the Holy Right Hand of St. István – the country’s most prized and revered relic.

 

The palace feathers were ruffled once more during the 1848-49 War of Independence, when it was occupied by Hungarian forces struggling against imperial rule. Restoration came on a grand scale following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, first to the designs of Miklós Ybl and then, after his death, to those of Alajos Hauszmann. The expansion was an expression of a fresh sense of independence, and it was hoped that the splendacious palace would shift the dual monarchy’s beating heart from Vienna to Budapest. Hauszmann doubled the length of the palace’s facade ( to over 300m) and added its outstanding feature, the central dome. Ferenc József, who had been crowned in Buda, laid one of the foundation stones during the millenary celebrations of 1896. Once completed, it formed the impressive backdrop to the coronation procession in 1916 of Károly IV, the last, short-lived Habsburg king.

 

In the  aftermath of World War I, the newly elected governor, Admiral Miklós Horthy, moved into the palace and lived the right royal high life. Shortly after his removal in a German coup of 1944, the Buda Castle Palace was brought down for the 31^st and final time. The German army’s centre of operations was based here, and as the soldiers holed up in a doomed final stand, the palace was battered by Russian bombardment. The post-war reconstruction incorporated those walls that were still standing, and included Gothic and baroque elements, but paid little regard to many aspects of the original design. However archaeological excavations went hand in hand with the reconstruction and revealed previously hidden medieval sections that can be viewed on the lower of the Budapest History Museum. A series of Gothis statues of saints, knights and bishops found in 1974 probably date to Zsigmond of Luxembourg’s time. In 1959 the decision  was made to devote the building to hungarian culture, and, as well as the history museum, it now houses the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Hungarian National Gallery and the National Széchenyi Library.

 

 

 

Cave Church ( Sziklatemplom) I, Gellért tér

 

A jagged walled cavern and rugged place of worship. Its hill was originally called Mount ’Pest’, the Slavic word for ’cavity’, while the cave itself was named Szt Iván after a medieval healing hermit who lived inside. In 1926 the grotto church was built, inspired by a pilgrimmage to Lourdes. During World War II, Pauline monks disguised Jews in their robes and hid them in the adjacent turreted cloister. In 1950, however the saviours, over 10, 000 of the country’s monks and nuns were forced out, and many executed or imprisoned. The cave was blocked with concrete, the cloister became a dormitory for students of the state ballet school and the Paulines had to wait almost 40 years for the political climate to permit their return.  Masses are held daily at 11.00, 17.00 and 20.00, and on Sundays and holidays at 9.30 and 10.30. Non-observants may not visit at these times.

 

 

Citadella I, Gellért hegy

 

Like the Freedom Monument, the stronghold next to it had significant symbolic overtones when constructed by the Habsburgs following the 1848-49 War of Independence. Built with Hungarian forced labour, its forbidding presence against the skyline was designed to quash further rebellious impulses. However, tempers had cooled by the time the Austrian garrison took up residence, and the grey fortress began to look something of a white elephant. In 1894 it was handed over to the city, and parts of it demolished as a token of the country’s unsschackled self. It subsequently served, among other things, as a prison and a hostel for the homeless, but its walls now contain an open-air exhibition devoted to Gellért Hill, covering its history from ancient times up until the 20^th century. There is a section on the martyrdom and cult of Gellért himself that challenges the traditional legend of the bishop’s death, arguing instead that the pagan insurgents of Vata tied him to a chariot, stoned him to death and pierced his heart with a lance. Infinitely preferable! Exhibition and panoramic views open 12.00-24.00 daily.

 

 

Mátyás Church ( Mátyás templom) I, Szentháromság tér 2

 

Different brushstrokes for different folks. Some deplore the old town’s centrepiece as a tattooed millionaire of a church, all chunky jewellry and no class; others see a trumphant marriage of 13^th-century Gothic design and late –19^th-century national pride. It is something of a miracle that theres is anything left to argue about. During Wolrd War II, tanks rammed through its main gates, the roof was burned out, and it was used alternately as a German field kitchen and a stable for Soviet horses. Mátyás was twice married here, and the walls – or parts of them – witnessed the coronations of Károly Róbert ( the first Angevin king, in 1309), Ferenc József ( for which Liszt’s ’Coronation Mass’ was composed, in 1867) and Károly IV ( the country’s last, in 1916).

The church was firts raised on this site by Buda’s German population in the reign of Béla IV. It was reconstructed by King Lajos in the 14^th century and Mátyás in the 15^th and subsequently appropriated by the Turks as their main mosque during the 150 years of occupation.  As part of the 1896 millenary celebrations, the architect Frigyes Schulek stripped away many of the later architectural layers in his quest to remain faithful to the spirit of the Gothic original.

Regular organ concerts; ticket can be purchased at the entrance.

 

 

Tomb of Gül Baba ( Gül Baba türbéje) II, Mecset utca 14

 

The cobbled stairway of Gül Baba utca leads you up the peaceful Rózsadomb ( Rose Hill). In an octagonal mausoleum at the top lies the Turkish dervish Gül Baba, who took part in the capture of Buda  but dropped dead during the thanksgiving service afterwards in Mátyás Church; Süley-man the Magnificent attended his funeral prayer.

The dervish later became known as the „Father of Roses’, reputedly because he grew flowers on the hillside  but more probably a reference to tributes left at his tomb. The shrine was erected in 1548, the tablet pointing toward Mecca, and is a place of Muslim pilgrimage. Remove your shoes before entering.

 

 

 

 

Pest

 

 

Szent István Basilica  (Bazilika) V, Szent István tér

 

The Basilica got off to something of an inauspicious start. The first version of the capital’s largest church, designed in 1845 by József Hild and constructed with inferior materials, had to be demolished after the dome collapsed. Miklós Ybl began anew, basing his Renaissance-inspired plan around a dome of 96m ( like Parliament); flanked by stocky towers. During World War II, the dome was hit by a bomb that mercifully failed to detonate, but a fire in 1946 brought it down once more. After restoration, Pope John Paul II took Mass here in 1991.As you move up the steps and through the entrance’s triumphal arch, you will pass beneath a tympanum of carved Hungarian saints worshipping Mary and Christ, a statue of Szt István ( the founder of the Christian state) in Italian marble, and gilded mosaic of Christ by Mór Than. The interior – laid out in the shape of a Greek cross- strikes you with contrasts, of light and dark, black and white, sturdy architecture and delicate art.

Like the Mátyás Church, the artists present the Christian story very much in the context of Hungary’s history, using Szent István as the focus.

There is a tiny treasury to the right of the entrance, and you can climb 300 steps ( or take the lift most of the way) up to a gallery running around the outside of the Basilica’s drum.

However, the primary draw is gnarled right hand of István himself, mounted in a casket in the Chapel of the Sacred Right. It is paraded through the streets during celebrations of the saint’s day on August 20.

 

 

 

 

 

Parliament ( Országház) V, Kossuth Lajos tér 1-3.

 

The symmetrical Parliament is a grandiose counterweight to the palace across the river, the symbol of democratic rather than aristocratic governance. It was the winning entry in a competition of 1882, its neo-Gothic aspect influenced by London’s Parliament. The statistics are staggering. The building took 17 years to construct,

with 1,000 labourers working at any one time; it is 268m long, its dome 96m high, and conatins 40 million bricks and 40kg of gold gilding. It is said that the cost of the project was equal to that of building a town for 60, 000 people.

The true splendour of the palace is evident as soon as you enter ( via the south side, facing Kossuth tér). A vaulted hall is supported by eight columns carved from a single block of Swedish marble, a gift from the Swedish king ( there are four of these in the English Parliament too); the imposing staircase carries you up to the Dome Hall, beneath  frescoes by Károly Lotz and an allegorical portrait of Hungary with István Széchenyi and Sándor Petőfi at her feet.

 

The Dome Hall itself is surrounded by Zsolnay ceramic statues of the country’s rulers. The glass-cased centrepiece is the coronation insignia, with the Sacred Crown ( Hungary’s national symbol), sceptre, orb and sword, which were placed here in 2000.

While the legend goes that the crown was presented to István in 1000 as a sign of papal support for his rule, it was actually bashed together from two different pieces in the 12^th century.

Its skew-whiff cross is evidence of a turbulent history that saw it lost, dropped buried in a bog and transported to varoius safehouse over the centuries, eventually ending up in America’s Fort Knox before being returned in 1978.

Since 1944, the legislature has been monocameral, and members sit in the Chamber o Repre-sentatives in the southern wing; the Upper House to the north is now used for international conferences. The Hunter Hall opposite the main staircase is the official dining area.

 

 

Inner City Parish Church ( Belvárosi Plébániatemplom) V, Március 15 tér 2

 

Nestling tight against Erzsébet híd, the Inner City Parish Church is Pest’s oldest building. It was first constructed in the 12^th century over the southern wall of the Roman fort at Contra -Aquincum, and actually recycled some of the stones; the south tower contains remnants of this original. (There had been an even earlier church on the site, where the martyred Bishop Gellért was buried in 1046.) The current Gothic sanctuary was raised in the 15^th century, altough there was a baroque overhaul in 1739 and 19^th-century renovation by Imre Steindl.

 

 

Kerepesi Cemetery VIII, Fiumei út

 

In our view, this is the city’s prime haven – 54ha of parkland criss-crossed with paths and chestnut avenues, and history’s movers all around. It is peaceful and fascinating. It is also one of the few places you will see the red star and the hammer and sickle ( officially outlawed as symbols of oppression).

Fallen revolutionary heroes of 1956 areburied in a plot behind the pantheon; secret policemen

( ÁVO) who died ’upholding the system’ lie on the opposite side of the cemetary to prevent fights during memorial services. There are magnificent mausoleums for Ferenc Deák, Lajs Kossuth and Lajos Batthyány.

József Antall – the first postcommunist leader is also here.

 

 

Great Synagogue

 

The ’Tobacco Street’ synagogue ( named after a factory here) was raised in 1859, its Moorish minarets the work of Austrian architect Ludwig Förster. It is the world second largest ( after that in New York), and seats 3,000. Tha magnificent interior – which caters for the Neolog community ( a Hungarian denomination) – it is unusual in several ways. As well as containing an organ, and 25 copies of the Torah ( rahter than the usual 12),  it also has two pulpits from which the words of the rabbi are repeated so that all can hear. Neglected under communism, renovation came in the 1990s, funded partly by the Emanuel Foundation ( established by actor Tony Curtis and named after his father, who emigrated in 1920s). Today, festival attract worshippers from all over Europe, and at other times there are concerts.

 

There was a ghetto here at the end of World War II, and a portion of the wall can be found in

the central courtyard. The wall was demolished by the Soviets on January 18 1945, but a mass grave contains those who perished in the months before.

Towards the back is Heroes’ Temple built in 1931 to commemorate Jews who died fighting at the front in World War I, often  so poorly equipped that they did not even have uniforms.

The Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park is dedicated to the Swedish saviour; its silver willow tree remembers the 600, 000 Jews who died and the heroes of all faith who riked their lives to save others.

Next to the synagogue’s main entrance is the Jewish Museum. Theodor Herzl ( Herzl Tivadar) was born on this site, the journalist who founded the modern Zionist movement after witnessing anti-Semitism in Paris.

The Holocaust Memorial Center is in the 9^th district at Páva utca 39.

 

 

 

Heroes’ Square and the City Park

 

Heroes’ Square was built for the one-thousend-year anniversary of the Hungarian conquest, in 1896. The  most dominant part of the Square is the Millennial Monumet. It is 36 meters high with Archangel Gabriel on the top, and seven tribe leaders of the conquering Hungarians surrounding the column. Two semicircular arcades are behind it with 14 outstanding heroes of Hungarian history. Visit the Museum of Fine Arts or the Exhibition Hall, and Vajdahunyad Castle and Széchenyi Bath neighbouring the Heroes’ Square.

 

 

The Opera House and Andrássy Avenue

 

Miklós Ybl built the Opera House in neo-renaissance and neo-baroque style, finished in 1884.

Hungarian composers, Ferenc Liszt and Ferenc Erkel are on both sides of the entrance.  Sculp-

tures of Muses are on the first floor, 16 prominent composers’ busts stand on the second floor of the facade. Inside of the Opera you can find the works of famous Hungarian painters, like Lotz, Székely and Thán.  Guided tours are at 3pm and 4pm, daily except Tuesdays.

Andrássy Avenue is one of the most beautiful parts of the Pest side, and its the member of the UNESCO World Heritage Program. The idea of building the avenue came from Paris ( Champs Elysées) and builders wanted to connect downtown to the City Park.

 

 

 

Visit the House of Terror at Andrássy út 66 for a remarkable vision of Hungarian history during the last century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chain Bridge

 

This was the first permanent bridge linking Pest and Buda, opened in 1849 by the initiative of Count Széchenyi. It is 375 meters long approximately the same length with the tunnel under the Castle Hill.