On Wednesday 2nd April 2025, Mel and I awoke in the Star City Hotel and went down for breakfast. We then walked back over to Keleti Palyaudvar Metro Station to catch the train to Fovam ter and visit Central Market Hall.
The Great Market Hall or Central Market Hall, is the largest and oldest indoor market in Budapest, Hungary. The idea of building such a large market hall arose from the first mayor of Budapest, Károly Kamermayer, and it was his largest investment. He retired in 1896 and participated in the opening ceremony on February 15, 1897.
It is located at the end of the famous pedestrian shopping street Váci utca and on the Pest side of the Liberty bridge at Fővám square.
The building was designed and built by Samu Pecz in 1897. The market offers a large variety of stalls on three floors. The entrance gate has a neogothic touch. A distinctive architectural feature is the roof which was restored to have colorful Zsolnay tiling from Pécs. The size of the building is 10,000 square meters and is covered by steel structure. During World War II the market was significantly damaged and remained in deteriorating condition. It wasn't until 1991 that a thorough renovation was undertaken to bring it back to its original splendor. The building re-opened in 1997 to much acclaim and was awarded with FIABCI Prix d’Excellence in 1999. The Central Market Hall continues to be one of the most popular tourist attractions of the city.
Most of the stalls on the ground floor offer produce, meats, pastries, candies, spices, and spirits. Many of them have items that are popular with tourists: paprika spices, Tokaji wine, Túró Rudi, kolbász sausage and salami can be found there. The second mezzanine floor has eateries and tourist souvenirs. The basement contains fish mongers, picked vegetables stalls and a few specialized butcher shops.
The market opens Monday through Saturday at 6am, but closes Monday at 5pm, Tuesday through Friday at 6pm, and at 3pm on Saturday.
The Central Market Hall has everything, mainly food on the ground floor and souvenirs on the upper. Quite pricey though, but I suspect this is a huge tourist trap!
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| Central Market Hall |
From the Central Market Hall we made our way across to the Liberty Bridge.
The Liberty Bridge or Freedom Bridge in Budapest, Hungary, connects Buda and Pest across the Danube river. It is the third southernmost public road bridge in Budapest, located at the southern end of the City Centre. It was originally named Ferenc József híd (Franz Joseph Bridge).
At its two ends are two public squares, Gellért tér (at the foot of Gellért Hill, with the Gellért Spa and Hotel Gellért) and Fővám tér (with the Great Market Hall).
The Liberty Bridge is the shortest bridge in Budapest's center. Initially built as part of the Millennium World Exhibition at the end of the 19th century, the bridge features art nouveau design, mythological sculptures and the country's coat of arms adorned on its side.
The northeastern house contains a museum on the bridges of Budapest. The bridge was the first in the city to be rebuilt after suffering heavy damage during World War II.
The bridge was built between 1894 and 1896 to the plans of János Feketeházy. Although radically different in structure (it is a cantilever truss bridge with a suspended middle span), the bridge imitates the general outline of a chain-type bridge, which was considered an aesthetically preferable form at the time of construction. The bridge was opened in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph; the last silver rivet on the Pest abutment was inserted into the iron structure by the Emperor himself, and the bridge was originally named after him.
Across the bridge on the Buda side, we can see Citadella high above. This is where we are planning to walk up to next.
We cross the Liberty Bridge and in front of us is the famous Gellert Thermal Baths.
The bath complex was built between 1912 and 1918 in the (Secession) Art Nouveau style. It was damaged during World War II but then rebuilt. References to healing waters in this location are found from as early as the 13th century. A hospital was located on this site during the Middle Ages. During the reign of the Ottoman Empire, baths were also built on this particular site. The "magical healing spring" was used by the Turkish during the 16th and 17th centuries. The bath was called Sárosfürdő ("muddy" bath) because the mineral mud settled at the bottom of pools.
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| Gellert Thermal Bath |
We walk up the hill to Szent István Király.
'On Pentecost 2001, the statue of Saint Stephen by Pál Kő was consecrated in front of the rock chapel on Gellért Hill. Saint Stephen by Pál Kő stands next to his horse, holding a church model in his clasped hands. The model is of course a single-nave church from the Romanesque period. The figure holding the model is small compared to the mass of the horse, and the composition is dominated by the animal from both close and various distant views. The sculptor achieves this effect of mass by not piercing the horse figure, covering it with a single, floor-to-ceiling shroud, from which only the animal's neck and head are exposed in front, and its rump and tail in the back. The relatively small, royal figure holding the model, which fits into the horse's leanness, is a young man on the verge of adolescence and youth. His gaze is pious, languid and guilty, his fallibility is enhanced by the long-toed knight's footwear, which is undoubtedly historical, but with its empty tips hanging from the pedestal, it undoubtedly creates a clownish grotesqueness. The historicizing references of the composition are clear: the figure holding the model is a church founder known from medieval miniature painting, the plastic pattern of the horse's cloak proves style history studies, the crown is simpler and more Byzantine than today.'
We continue up through Gellért-hegy Jubileumi Park.
We reach a playground with a few steep slides, I say to Mel to have a go for a photo, she didn't need much persuading ha ha!
We continue to climb up the hill with views back down to Liberty Bridge and the Central Market Hall beyond.
Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the tenth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second largest city on the Danube river.
The history of Budapest began when an early Celtic settlement transformed into the Roman town of Aquincum, the capital of Lower Pannonia. The Hungarians arrived in the territory in the late 9th century, but the area was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241–42. Re-established Buda became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture by the 15th century. The Battle of Mohács, in 1526, was followed by nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule. After the reconquest of Buda in 1686, the region entered a new age of prosperity, with Pest-Buda becoming a global city after the unification of Buda, Óbuda and Pest on 17 November 1873, with the name 'Budapest' given to the new capital. Budapest also became the co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a great power that dissolved in 1918, following World War I. The city was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and the Battle of Budapest in 1945, as well as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
Budapest is a global city with strengths in commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. Hungary's financial centre, Budapest is also the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the European Police College and the first foreign office of the China Investment Promotion Agency. Over 40 colleges and universities are located in Budapest, including Eötvös Loránd University, Corvinus University, Semmelweis University, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Opened in 1896, the city's subway system, the Budapest Metro, serves 1.27 million, while the Budapest Tram Network serves 1.08 million passengers daily.
We continue the climb up, now the hill turns to steps for the final climb.
The central area of Budapest along the Danube River is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has several notable monuments of classical architecture, including the Hungarian Parliament and the Buda Castle. The city also has around 80 geothermal springs, the largest thermal water cave system, second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building in the world. Budapest attracts around 12 million international tourists per year, making it a highly popular destination in Europe.
We finally reach the Liberty Statue, sadly all fenced off due to ongoing maintenance works.
The Liberty Statue or Freedom Statue is a monument at the east end of the Citadella on Gellért Hill in Budapest, Hungary. It commemorates those who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary.
The Statue was first erected in 1947 in remembrance of the Soviet liberation of Hungary during World War II, which ended the occupation by Nazi Germany. Its location upon Gellért Hill makes it a prominent feature of Budapest's cityscape.
The 14 m tall bronze statue stands atop a 26 m pedestal and holds a palm leaf. Two smaller statues are also present around the base, but the original monument consisted of two more originally that have since been removed from the site and relocated to Statue Park. The monument was designed by Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl. According to Kisfaludi Strobl, the design was originally made for the memorial of István Horthy and would in that role have featured a human child instead of the palm leaf that was a Soviet addition.
At the time of the monument's construction, the defeat of Axis forces by the Red Army was officially proclaimed “liberation”—leading to the original inscription upon the memorial (both in Hungarian and Russian):
A FELSZABADÍTÓ
SZOVJET HŐSÖK
EMLÉKÉRE
A HÁLÁS MAGYAR NÉP
1945
ОСВОБОДИТЕЛЯМ
СОВЕТСКИМ ГЕРОЯМ
ОТ
БЛАГОДАРНОГО
ВЕНГЕРСКОГО НАРОДА
which can be translated to read, "To the memory of the liberating Soviet heroes [erected by] the grateful Hungarian people [in] 1945".
Over the following years, public sentiment toward the Soviets decreased to the point of revolution, which was attempted and temporarily succeeded in 1956 and subsequently damaged some portions of the monument. After the 1989 transition from communist rule to democracy, the inscription was modified to read:
MINDAZOK EMLÉKÉRE
AKIK
ÉLETÜKET ÁLDOZTÁK
MAGYARORSZÁG
FÜGGETLENSÉGÉÉRT,
SZABADSÁGÁÉRT
ÉS BOLDOGULÁSÁÉRT
Translated from Hungarian: "To the memory of those all who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary". The Russian-language version of the tribute was removed in its entirety.
There are great views over the city and in the picture above we can see Puskas Arena and the Budapest Keleti railway station in front where our hotel is close by.
The previously separate cities of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest were officially unified in 1873 and given the new name Budapest. Before this, the towns together had sometimes been referred to colloquially as "Pest-Buda". Pest is often used pars pro toto for the entire city in contemporary colloquial Hungarian, although it is also used to refer to all parts of the city east of the Danube. Conversely, Buda colloquially means all districts to the Danube's west—including the former Óbuda. The Danube islands—including Csepel, the city's XXI. district—are part of neither Buda nor Pest.
We start our walk back down the hill to make our way over to Castle Hill. Sadly the two aren't connected and we need to go back down to ground level to climb back up again.
On the way down we pass the St. Gerard Sagredo Statue.
Gerard or Gerard Sagredo was the first bishop of Csanád in the Kingdom of Hungary from about 1030 until his death. Most of the information about his life is preserved in his legends, which contain most of the usual elements of medieval biographies of saints. He was born into a noble Venetian family, associated with the Sagredos or Morosinis in sources written centuries later. After a serious illness, he was sent to the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio at the age of five. He received an excellent monastic education and also studied grammar, music, philosophy and law.
He left Venice for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land around 1020, but a storm forced him to interrupt his journey near Istria. He decided to visit the Kingdom of Hungary. Maurus, bishop of Pécs, and Stephen I of Hungary persuaded him not to continue the pilgrimage, stressing that Gerard’s preaching could hasten the conversion of the Hungarians. Gerard was made tutor to Emeric, the king’s son and heir. Soon, Gerard went to the Bakony Mountains near Bakonybéli as a hermit. Stephen I appointed him bishop of the newly created diocese of Csanád (comprising present-day Banat in Serbia, Romania and Hungary) around 1030. Hungarian-speaking Benedictine monks helped him to preach among the local population.
The statue of St. Gellért, Szent Gellért píspök szobra, designed by sculptor Jankovits Gyula, was erected in 1904 under the side of Ellért-hegy. At the foot of the 7-meter building is a bronze bishop designed by Gárdos Aladár, all located above an artificial waterfall in an arched arcade designed by architect Franšek Imre.
The monument marks the place where, according to legend, the bishop was nailed to death in a barrel in 1046 by the pagan Magyars in opposition to the new faith.
Canonized in 1083, Gerard is currently one of Hungary’s patron saints, along with St. Stephen and St. Emeric.
We continue our walk down the zig zagging path.
We reach ground level and made our way across the rod network below and stop at a café/bar, as we are gasping for a drink at Platan Kavezo. Mel has a coffee and I have a pint of Borsodi.
We make our way along the banks of the Danube, passing a playground with the beautiful church of
Saint Catherine of Alexandria Church, Tabán beyond framed by a cherry tree in blossom.
The St. Catherine of Alexandria Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Tabán quarter of Budapest, Hungary. It is the parish church of the Tabán Parish which also comprises parts of Gellért Hill and Naphegy. The church is a listed monument that was built in Central European Baroque style between 1728 and 1777. It was reconstructed several times in the 19th–20th centuries.
Further along the river we pass the Várkert Bazár.
The Castle Garden Bazaar or Castle Bazaar is located in the 1st district of Budapest , on Ybl Miklós Square . It is a prominent monument, part of the World Heritage Site. Built between 1875 and 1883, under the Buda Castle based on the designs of Miklós Ybl , it was completely renovated in 2014 as part of a monumental plan to beautify the Buda Castle District and its surroundings.
In the 19th century, Pest, located on the left bank of the Danube , began to develop rapidly due to urbanization. Representative buildings and pedestrian zones were built near the bank. Buda , on the other hand, was characterized by older buildings dating back to the 18th century . In the early 1870s, the idea was born to build a representative garden building at the foot of Castle Hill. The complex was built between 1875 and 1883 in the Neo-Renaissance style according to the plans of Miklós Ybl , as a closure of the Castle Garden on the Danube side.
It originally served a commercial function, and its arcades once housed shops. From 1883 to 1888 , the Buda Artisans' Workshop operated in its northern wing, and from 1890 to 1895 , the Historical Portrait Hall was visible here. From the 1890/91 academic year until 1918 , the building housed a women's painting school. In 1884 , Alajos Strobl (the creator of the Matthias Fountain ) was the first sculptor to have his own studio in the arcades of the bazaar. He was followed by about eighty fellow artists over the next hundred years.
The building was severely damaged in World War II . The tower at the edge of the market, as well as the rest of the complex, was destroyed.
I see an open door a little further on, I had to have a nose inside. Not knowing if we were allowed inside or not. It was so beautiful inside, I call Mel over so we can climb the stairs for a better look.
Its called Staircase Pavilion and is a part of the Varkert Bazaar.
This row of buildings on the side of the Neo-Renaissance garden and Castle Hill was built between 1875 and 1883 according to the plans of one of the greatest Hungarian architects, Miklós Ybl.
Such a beautiful building and I'm glad I was nosy enough to look through the open doorway.
We walk on eventually reaching the bottom of Castle Hill and the funicular. There is a long queue for this and costs 5000 HUF about £10.59 each. We decide to skip this and walk up the hill. Walking up a bit, I find a elevator that skips us up a bit of the climb. Then it was the final walk up. Really wasn't that bad and saved us the wait for the funicular and 10000 HUF !
Again from the heights of Castle Hill there are views across the stunning Budapest.
We now reach Budapest Castle.
Buda Castle formerly also called the Royal Palace and the Royal Castle, is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings in Budapest. First completed in 1265, the Baroque palace that occupies most of the site today was built between 1749 and 1769, severely damaged during the Siege of Budapest in World War II, and rebuilt in a simplified Baroque style during the state communist era. Presently, it houses the Hungarian National Gallery, the Budapest Historical Museum, and the National Széchényi Library.
We walk through the doors and meet with a woman stating there is an admission charge, we weren't interested in seeing art so we skip this. A quick look in the shop there had posters of the artwork on display, that'd do ha ha.
We walk on around the back of the castle.
The palace complex sits on the southern tip of Castle Hill . Its defensive walls extend to surround the entire Castle Quarter (Várnegyed) neighbourhood to its north, which is well known for its medieval, Baroque, and neoclassical houses, churches, and other monuments. Several prominent government buildings, including Sándor Palace and the Carmelite Monastery of Buda, are located in the Castle Quarter. Locally, this neighbourhood and the palace are collectively called a Vár (lit. 'the Castle').
Castle Hill is linked to Clark Ádám Square and the Széchenyi Chain Bridge by the Castle Hill Funicular. The Castle Quarter falls within the part of Budapest that UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site in 1987.
Matthias Fountain is a monumental fountain group in the western forecourt of Buda Castle, Budapest. Alajos Stróbl’s Neo-Baroque masterpiece is one of the most frequently photographed landmark in the Hungarian capital. It is sometimes called the ’Trevi Fountain of Budapest’.
The group depicts a hunting party led by Matthias Corvinus, the king of Hungary. The bronze figures are standing on heaps of rocks against the backdrop of the northern facade of the former Castle Church. Water is running down between the cracks of the boulders. The theatrical arrangement resembles the famous Trevi Fountain in Rome although it is on a much smaller scale.
The monumental facade behind the fountain is flanked by two pairs of giant Corinthian columns. The original balustrade crowning and the Mansard roof was more elaborate but it was simplified after being damaged in the Second World War. The central niche forms a triumphal arch which is decorated with King Matthias' personal coat of arms. The Art Nouveau arboreal decoration of the niche creates an interesting stylistic contrast with the more traditional taste of the fountain. The surface is decorated with a plain golden mosaic.
King Matthias is standing on the highest rock in hunting attire. He is holding a crossbow in his right and a huge dead stag lies at his feet. On the lower rocks a henchman blows his horn and the leader of the hunting group rests sitting on a boulder with his back towards the viewer. Three hounds complete the central group.
There are two more bronze figures on the sides of the basin. They are connected to the central group with gestures and gazes but they have their own plinths. On the right is Szép Ilonka (Helen the Fair), heroine of a famous 19th century ballad by Mihály Vörösmarty. According to the ballad, Ilonka and Matthias fell in love when he was hunting incognito. When Ilonka found out his true identity and assumed that this was an impossible love, she died of a broken heart. The girl is looking towards the king protecting her tame fawn from the hunters. On the left is the Italian chronicler, Galeotto Marzio who lived in King Matthias' court. A sighthound rests at his feet and a falcon perches on his left fist.
On 16 October 1944 a Nazi German commando unit, led by Otto Skorzeny, occupied the Royal Palace and forced the regent to abdicate. Buda Castle was the last major stronghold of Budapest held by Axis forces during the siege of Budapest between 29 December 1944 and 13 February 1945. The German and Hungarian forces defending the castle attempted to break the Soviet blockade on 11 February 1945, but failed. Allegedly the Soviet Red Army knew about their plans and had aimed heavy weapons at the possible escape routes hours earlier. This is considered one of the biggest disasters of Hungarian military history.
Heavy fights and artillery fire reduced the palace to ruins. The furniture vanished, roofs and vaults collapsed and the southern and western wings were burned out. The destruction was comparable to that of the great siege of 1686.
We leave the Castle via the rear and have a longish walk back around having to walk through the road tunnel on Alagat. Loud, noisy and full of fumes. Back out the other side we walk pass the Funicular again. No queues now!
We grab a bus by the funicular and ride this across to Deak Fernec Metro and alight here. We then walk on to see the Budapest Opera House.
We reach the Hungarian State Opera House and walk inside. You can have a look about some of the inside for free.
The Hungarian State Opera House is a historic opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy avenue. Originally known as the Hungarian Royal Opera House, it was designed by Miklós Ybl, a major figure of 19th-century Hungarian architecture. Construction began in 1875, funded by the city of Budapest and by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary, and the new house opened to the public on the 27 September 1884. Before the closure of the "Népszínház" in Budapest, it was the third largest opera building in the city; today it is the second largest opera house in Budapest and in Hungary.
Touring groups had performed operas in the city from the early 19th century, but as Legány notes, "a new epoch began after 1835 when part of the Kasa National Opera and Theatrical Troupe arrived in Buda". They took over the Castle Theatre and, in 1835, were joined by another part of the troupe, after which performances of operas were given under conductor Ferenc Erkel. By 1837 they had established themselves at the Magyar Színház (Hungarian Theatre) and by 1840, it had become the "Nemzeti Színház" (National Theatre). Upon its completion, the opera section moved into the Hungarian Royal Opera House, with performances quickly gaining a reputation for excellence in a repertory of about 45 to 50 operas and about 130 annual performances.
Today, the opera house is home to the Budapest Opera Ball, a society event dating back to 1886.
Many important artists were guests here including the composer Gustav Mahler, who was director in Budapest from 1888 to 1891 and Otto Klemperer, who was music director for three years from 1947 to 1950.
In the 1970s the state of the building prompted the Hungarian State to order a major renovation which eventually began in 1980 and lasted till 1984. The reopening was held exactly 100 years after the original opening, on the 27 September 1984.
It is a richly decorated building and is considered one of the architect's masterpieces. It was built in neo-Renaissance style, with elements of Baroque. Ornamentation includes paintings and sculptures by leading figures of Hungarian art including Bertalan Székely, Mór Than and Károly Lotz. Although in size and capacity it is not among the greatest, in beauty and the quality of acoustics the Budapest Opera House is considered to be amongst the finest opera houses in the world.
The auditorium holds 1,261 people. It is horseshoe-shaped and – according to measurements done in the 1970s by a group of international engineers – has the third best acoustics in Europe after La Scala in Milan and the Palais Garnier in Paris. Although many opera houses have been built since, the Budapest Opera House is still among the best in terms of the acoustics.
In front of the building are statues of Ferenc Erkel and Franz Liszt. Liszt is the best known Hungarian composer. Erkel composed the Hungarian national anthem, and was the first music director of the Opera House; he was also founder of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra.
Each year the season lasts from September to the end of June and, in addition to opera performances, the House is home to the Hungarian National Ballet.
There are guided tours of the building in six languages (English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Hungarian) almost every day.
From here we have about a 15 minute walk over to see the Karavan Street Food so we could have lunch.
It is an open-air alley made up of food stalls, from traditional Hungarian food, to hamburgers, chimneys (typical sweet), and even Mexican food.
Mel had Beef Goulash stew with potatoes. I had Paprika beef sausage and potatoes.
Very nice, wishing I had the Goulash though that looked amazing!
This place is in the Jewish Quarter of the city.
We walk on to get to Astoria Metro to go back to the hotel.
Enroute we pass the Dohány Street Synagogue.
The Dohány Street Synagogue also known as the Great Synagogue is a Neolog Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Dohány Street in Erzsébetváros (VIIth district) of Budapest, Hungary. It is the largest synagogue in Europe, seating 3,000 people, and is a centre of Neolog Judaism. The congregation worships in the Ashkenazi rite.
The synagogue was built between 1854 and 1859 in the Moorish Revival and Romantic Historicist styles, with the decoration based chiefly on Islamic models from North Africa and medieval Spain (the Alhambra). The synagogue's Viennese architect, Ludwig Förster, believed that no distinctively Jewish architecture could be identified, and thus chose "architectural forms that have been used by oriental ethnic groups that are related to the Israelite people, and in particular the Arabs". The interior design is partly by Frigyes Feszl.
The Dohány Street Synagogue complex consists of the Great Synagogue, the Heroes' Temple, a graveyard, a memorial, and a Jewish museum, the latter built on the site where Theodor Herzl's house of birth stood. Dohány Street itself, a leafy street in the city centre, carries strong Holocaust connotations as it constituted the border of the Budapest Ghetto.
We stop in a shop near to Astoria Metro and have our first Chimney Cake. A cinnamon delight still warm, my god these are delicious!
We catch the Metro back and soon we are back at the Hotel for a nap.
That evening we walk to the City Park. This musical fountain was a nice touch.
We pass The House of Music Hungary.
The House of Music Hungary, a unique and complex institution of musical initiation and the venue for the country’s first comprehensive exhibition presenting the history of music, opened in the City Park in January 2022. Although Hungary is famed for its musical heritage, no multi-faceted exhibition presenting the history of Hungarian music in the context of European music had been hosted in any Hungarian institution exhibition before this one. The iconic building, designed by Japanese star architect Sou Fujimoto was selected from among 170 international projects and since the announcement of the design as the winner of the architectural competition it has attracted massive attention in international professional circles. This is confirmed, for example, by the fact that in early 2021 it was listed by CNN and the World Architecture Community as one of the ten most anticipated new buildings of the year. The final result did not disappoint: a truly contemporary architectural masterpiece has come into being.
Walking on we reach Vajdahunyad Castle.
Vajdahunyad Castle is a castle in the City Park of Budapest, Hungary. It is an eclectic collage of multiple landmark buildings from different parts of the Kingdom of Hungary, especially the Hunyad Castle in Hunedoara, Romania. As the castle contains parts of buildings from various time periods, it displays different architectural styles: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque.
The castle was designed by Ignác Alpár and built in 1896 as part of the Millennial Exhibition, which celebrated the 1,000 years of Hungary since the Hungarian Conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895. Originally, it was made from cardboard and wood, but it became so popular that it was rebuilt from stone and brick between 1904 and 1908. Today, the castle houses the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture, the biggest agricultural museum in Europe.
The statue by Miklós Ligeti of the chronicler Anonymus is displayed in the castle court. Anonymus lived in the 12th century. His true identity is unknown, but he was a notary of Béla III of Hungary, and he wrote the chronicle Gesta Hungarorum (Deeds of the Hungarians).
We walk out of the castle heading towards the Szechenyi Thermal baths.
We cross the road and we walk up to the baths that are lit up as it s getting darker now.
We enter intent in getting tickets for tomorrow, there is nowhere to purchase the tickets. Nothing we could see open anyway. So we sit and I order them online.
Leaving we head back and towards Heroes Square.
Hősök tere is one of the major squares in Budapest, Hungary, noted for its iconic Millennium Monument with statues featuring the Seven chieftains of the Magyars and other important Hungarian national leaders, as well as the Memorial Stone of Heroes, often erroneously referred as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The square lies at the outbound end of Andrássy Avenue next to City Park (Városliget). It hosts the Museum of Fine Arts and the Palace of Art (Műcsarnok). The square has played an important part in contemporary Hungarian history and has been a host to many political events, such as the reburial of Imre Nagy in 1989. Most sculptures were made by sculptor György Zala from Lendva, with one made by György Vastagh.
When the monument was originally constructed, Hungary was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and thus the last five spaces for statues on the left of the colonnade were reserved for members of the ruling Habsburg dynasty. From left to right these were Ferdinand I (relief: Defense of the Castle at Eger); Leopold I (relief: Eugene of Savoy defeats the Turks at Zenta), Charles III, Maria Theresa (relief: The Hungarian Diet votes support for Maria Therese with their vow "vitam et sanguinem" at Pressburg on 11 September 1741) and Franz Joseph (relief: Franz Joseph crowned by Gyula Andrássy). The monument was damaged in World War II and when it was rebuilt the Habsburgs were replaced by the current figures.
On 16 June 1989 a crowd of 250,000 gathered at the square for the historic reburial of Imre Nagy, who had been executed in June 1958.
At the front of the monument is the Memorial Stone of Heroes (Hősök emlékköve), a large stone cenotaph surrounded by an ornamental iron chain. The cenotaph is dedicated "To the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the freedom of our people and our national independence." While some guide books refer to this as a tomb it is not a burial place but is erroneously referred as the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier". Hungary has no Tomb of the Unknown Soldier unlike most European countries, nor any memorial to the unknown fallen of wars. No human remnants are interred here, there is only an artesian well under the tombstone-like memorial. The Memorial Stone of Heroes was originally erected in 1929 as a tribute to those who died defending Hungary's 1000-year-old borders. It was removed in 1951 as its message was politically unacceptable for the Communist regime. The current one was built at the same spot in 1956. The memorial is surrounded by a fence and it is off limits for visitors. The Ministry of Defence only opens the gate for foreign dignitaries and official state ceremonies.
Behind the cenotaph but within the decorative chain is a flat bronze plate which marks the site of an artesian well whose drilling was completed in 1878 by Vilmos Zsigmondy. This well provides water for the Széchenyi thermal bath behind the monument and the Dagály Baths in the Népfürdő utca. The well reached a depth of 971 meters and produces 831 litres of hot water per minute at 74 degrees Celsius.
We leave Heroes Square and walk over to Mendles Restaurant for dinner.
Mel had a Pizza and I had a Calzone. Was really enjoying it until I found a hair in mine. Mentioned it when paying. Either she didn't understand or didn't care as I got no reply.
We walk back to the hotel for the night.
