Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is an affectionate and historic city.
The architectures along the two sides of the Danube river are stunningly gorgeous. The two parts are connected by a series of bridges. The west side is known as Buda, with its Castle Hill and remnants of Hungary’s glory days. The other flat side across the river is called Pest, with the outstanding House of Parliament building and the commercial town center.
Budapest is a city with a long history, and has many times suffered for its people. The history of the city can be seen in all corners of Budapest. The central area of the city along the Danube River is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. Other World Heritage sites in Budapest includes: the Hungarian Parliament, Buda Castle, Fisherman's Bastion, Gresham Palace, Széchenyi Chain Bridge, Matthias Church and the Liberty Statue.
My Mom sauntered along the Budapest Danube river, admiring various sites and man-made architectures. Started from the Pest side, House of Parliament was her first stop.
The House of Parliament is the third largest Parliament building in the world. It is a blend of architectural styles: neo-Gothic, neo-Romanesque, and neo-Baroque. The 112-year-old building has over 690 rooms, 20 km of stairs and a height of 96 m. The building’s interior is luxurious and elaborate; 40 kg of gold were used in the decoration. The Hungarian Parliament Building is not only one of the largest and oldest but definitely one of the most beautiful.
In my Mom's opinion, this magnificent building on the curve of Danube makes Budapest “Queen of the Danube”.
The square where the Hungarian Parliament stands is called Kossuth, named after Lajos Kossuth. Kossuht was known under many titles, from a lawyer, to Govern-President of Hungary. He was also known as a freedom fighter, as well as a democratic leader in Europe at the time.
Within a short distance from the House of Parliament located on the bank of the river, there are 60 pairs of iron shoes all pointed towards the Danube river. These iron shoes hold a tragic story. During the second World War, hundreds of lives, mostly Jews, were shot into the Danube by The Budapest's Arrow Cross Militiamen (who were in cooperation with the Nazis). Even more painfully, they were forced to remove their shoes as these were valuable objects during the war. Tears came to my Mom’s eyes, when she took pictures of “Shoes on the Danube”.
My Mom continued walking along the Pest of Danube. Not far from the House of Parliament, one of Budapest’s greatest landmark, St. Stephens Basilica, could be seen.
This spectacular church stood on the Pest side of the city. The church construction was completed in 1906, taking over 50 years to build. The church held many exquisite frescoes, mosaics, statues and beautiful altar pieces. The façade had two bell towers, the south tower held the largest bell in the country and the north tower held another 5 bells. My mom took the elevator to the top of tower where she saw the striking views across the city.
After travelling for over half of the day, it was time to find something to restore energy. No place was better than the Central market. It took 35 minutes to walk from St. Stephens Basilica to the Central or Great Market Hall in Budapest. This largest indoor market of the city was originally constructed in 1897.
The Great Market Hall is located on the bank of the Danube in Fovam Square near the Liberty Bridge. The building has a colourful orange brick façade and a brightly tiled roof. During WWII, the market building suffered damage but it has been fully restored.
The market offered a huge variety of stalls on three levels. Most of the stalls on the ground floor offered produce, meat, pastries, candies, spices, and spirits. The second floor had mainly eateries and souvenirs. The basement contained a supermarket, fish market, and pickles. It was a happy hour for my mom. She spent most of her time on the ground floor, and of course she got some souvenirs back home!
My Mom’s journey to the Buda side started on the second day. With the Buda Castle in the background, the Hungarian capital’s first permanent bridge, Széchenyi Chain bridge, was the most marvellous bridges in Budapest. The bridge was built upon the request of Count István Széchenyi. Like many other Danube bridges, the Chain Bridge did not survive the destruction of the World War II, so the bridge today is a replica, which was rebuilt in 1949.
The Chain Bridge is 375 m long and 16 m wide, huge chains were used to connect the bridge between the two towers, hence the name.
Upon crossing the river on Chain bridge, my mother took the Buda funicular up to Castle Hill for the panoramic views from the remaining castle ramparts. The Buda Castle District was one of the most beautiful and romantic parts of Budapest. It was an ancient town district, place for some of the most important historical monuments in Hungary. While nearly 800 years has passed since it has been originally founded, its beauty still stands extraordinary, despite earthquakes, fires, sieges and world wars.
Today, the Royal Palace contains the Hungarian National Gallery, the Castle Museum, and the National Széchenyi Library.
The Hungarian National Gallery, was established in 1957 as the national art museum. It is located in Buda Castle. It contains the largest collection of Hungarian arts with one hundred thousand artefacts.
Of walking distance from the Buda castle, is the most visited site of Budapest, the Trinity Square. This square is dominated by one of Budapest's most iconic building, the Mathias Church (Church of Our Lady) which is over 700 years old. The church itself is almost the same age as the Royal Palace. The church underwent many renovations, additions and changes over the years with the most updated trends in architecture. Today's version of the church was renovated into Neo-Gothic style. The magnificent colourful diamond shaped roof tiles were added and decorative gargoyles.
Fisherman Bastion did not look like a bastion, it looked more like a fairy-tale castle. The elaborate terraces were part of constructions made between 1895 and 1902 in celebration of the state's 1000th anniversary. At the time, the terraces were intended as observation points for looking out across the magnificent views, just as tourists do today. Suggesting that it was built to impress rather than to protect.
The main façade of the Fisherman’s Bastion, running parallel to the Danube, is approximately 140 m long. The seven stone towers with their pointed tops represent the seven leaders of the Hungarian tribes who conquered the country in 896. It was built in place of the old fortification walls in neo-Romanesque style between 1895 and 1902.
A bronze statue of Saint Stephen, the first Hungarian king (1906), is also on this historical monument.
As the sun went down at Fisherman’s Bastion, an ensemble of icons grabbed my mom’s attention: the mighty bridges linking Buda and Pest, the House of Parliament with sunlight reflection.
To fulfil my mother’s journey of Budapest, she took the night river cruise to explore Budapest with its full glory.
The city at night truly offered an awe-inspiring experience with the boat floated along the magnificent Parliament Building, and the wonderful Castle Hill.
Witnessed the beauty of the illuminated bridges connecting the two parts of the city, while enjoying traditional gypsy and folk music. Another ultimate trip of my mother’s journey in Budapest, a city of fascinating that has survived its violent history beautifully.
really interesting post and brilliant photos, thanks for posting!
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I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
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Your post is amazing. I am sure it will be featured in #traveldigest if you add it to the steemitworld map (:
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Thank you again @best-trip-eva!
I have added it to the steemitworld map :)
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