I monumenti di Budapest

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Posti d´Interesso

Hero´s square (Hősök tere)

Is one of the most visited sights of the Hungarian capitol. It lies at the end of Andrássy Avenue next to City Park. It is surrounded by two important buildings, Museum of Fine Arts on the left and Palace of Art on the right. In the middle of Heroes' square stands a 36 metres high corinthian column with the statue of Archangel Gabriel on the top. It is the symbol of the Roman Catholic religion. It is a station of the yellow M1 (Millennium Undrerground) line of Budapest metro.

The Parliament

The Hungarian Parliament is the seat of the National Assembly. It is one of the most beautiful and ancient legislative buildings of Europe and the third largest Parliament building in the world. It represents an architectural style known as Gothic Revival. The Hungarian Parliament has a symmetrical structure, and a large dome, which is quite unusual in a Gothic structure. The building is 268 meter long, 123 meter wide in the middle, 96 meter high with the dome. It occupies 18 000 square meters. There are 16 statues of Hungarian kings, rulers and monarchs on the walls:

St. István, St. László, Kálmán Könyves, András the 2nd, Béla the 4th, Lajos Nagy, János Hunyadi and Mátyás Hunyadi, kings of Hungary, István Báthori, István Bocskai, Gábor Bethlen and György Rákóczi the first; III. Károly the 3rd, Terézia Mária and Lipót the 2nd.

The Parliament includes a library of around half-a-million books and documents, handled by a modern information system. The huge reading-room is situated on the lower floor.

The Roayal Palace in Buda Castle

The Gothic style palace was built from the middle of the 14th century until the end of the 15th century. It became a royal residence of European rank, with its Gothic and Renaissance elements. The Palace can be reached from the Danube embankment by the Castle District's own special funicular railway, the "Siklo". The building is located 48 metres above the Danube on the Castle Hill or Várhegy. This hill is the place where Budapest was founded. Today the castle is the seat of several museums – Budapest Historical museum and the National Gallery.

Matthias Church

Address: I. Szentháromság tér 2, Buda, Budapest
Phone: 13155657
Getting there: Castlebus from Moszkva tér or No. 16 from Deák tér Castle hill; funicular Clark Ádám tér to Castle Hill
Opening hours: daily 9:00 – 18:00
Admission: Adults: 700 HUF; students, pensioners, soldiers 480 HUF; children under 6 years free; family ticket (1 or 2 parents + children) 1200 HUF; Budapest card accepted.

Is officially named the Church of Our Lady. It si popularly known as Matthias Church after King Matthias Corvinus (Good King Mátyás) who ordered the construction of its original southern tower. It is located at the heart of Buda´s Castle District. The building was contructed in the florid lete Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century. The last two Hungarian kings (Habsburgs) were crowned in this church: Franz Joseph in 1867 and Charles IV in 1916. The church interior is decorated with works by two outstanding 19th-century Hungarian painters, Károly Lotz and Bertalan Székely.

You can use your ticket to visit both the church (Matthias Church and St. Stephen´s Basilica) and the museum. Those who do not wish to look at the church but would like to pray or enjoy a moment of silence, may enter the sacred chapel all day free of charge. The sacred chapel is also open for visiting tourists.

St. Stephen´s Basilica

Address: V. Szent István tér 33, Pest, Budapest
Phone: 13172859
Getting there: metro Arany János utca (blue line) or Bajcsy – Zsilinsky út (yellow line)

Opening hours:

Church (daily 7:00 – 19:00)
Szent Jakob chapel (Mon – Sat: 9:00 – 17:00, Sun: 13:00 – 17:00, November - March – is closed.)
Tower (April – October – Mon – Sat: 10:00 – 18:00)

Admission: Church 200 HUF, tower 400 HUF

The Basilica of St Stephen is Hungary’s largest church and the second highest in ecclesiastical ranking. It is named after the first King of Hungary. About 8500 people can get in. The visitors can travel by elevator to the left tower on the second floor where they can enjoy a panoramic view of Budapest. In the right tower, they can find the largest church bell in the country, weighing about 9 tons.

The Fisherman´s Bastion

Address: I. Buda castle District, Budapest
Getting there: Metro M2 Moszkva tér, M2 Batthyány tér, Castlebus

It is one of the most popular spots of the Castle District. It offers a grand panorama of almost the entire city. It is situated at the eastern side of Castle Hill. Its architecture make it a mixture of the neo-Gothic and neo-Roman styles and of the romantic baronial castles. This is the large white tower and lookout terrace complex. It is named after both the medieval fishmarket. The statue between the bastion and the church is King Stephen. Most of the visitors consider the view from Fisherman’s Bastion to be one of the best in the city. From a top of the structure, you can see Margaret Island, St. Stephens´s Basilica, Parliament, the Academy of Sciences.

Parchi

If you want to get away from the busy city centre visit Budapest parks, gardens and other green places. Budapest has more trees than any other capital city in Central Europe.

Városliget (City Park)

Is located behind Hero´s Square in XIV. district, M1 (yellow) metro, Hősök tere station, trolleis 70, 72, buses 20, 30.

Városliget is the largest of all Budapest parks. It was built in the 18th century. There is an ice rink in the winter and a lake with boats for rent to rowing in the summer. Near the park area there is the ZOO complex with the Elephant House. Park is visited by large numbers of families with children looking to relax or to enjoy some of its many attractions for example The Museums of Fine Arts, the Palace of Arts, the Millenary Monument on the Hero´s Square, Széchenyi Baths, Amusement Park, Transport museum.

Margitsziget (Margaret Island)

Getting there: trams 4,6 Margit sziget stop Park is located on a 2,5 km-long central Island on the Danube. The historical Margaret Island is a special landmark of Budapest. It was named after Princess Margaret who lived in a convent in the 13th century. The island is lined with romanic walkways, flowery growes, old ruins. There are summer thermal spa, professional swimming pool, Japanese garden, Dominican cloister, open – air theatre for opera and ballet in the summer months, several restaurants, two luxury thermal hotels and a rose garden. When the weather is hot, scores of people lay around the biggest fountain of Budapest, which plays pleasant music every 30 minutes. There are no cars are allowed and this ways are available for the cyclists.

Buda Hills - Normafa Are

Normafa is part of the Buda Hills area, on the Schwabhegy (Schwab Hill) and Janoshegy (Janos Hill), which is the highest point of the city. This area is suitable for cycling and walking. If you´re with children it´s possible to go up the hills with the Children´s railway. There is a Chair lift which is a funny way of getting up to Janos hill, from where there are a super views over the whole of Budapest. Many parts of the Buda Hills are nature reserves for example the Budakeszi Vadaspark with live animals.

Népliget

Getting there: M3 metro Népliget station, tram 1, 1A Népliget stop

This park, named the People's Park, is located in the southeast of the city centre. The 110-hectare park has statues and memorials. The Planetarium stands in the park. In the dome are projected wonderful astronomic shows as well as laser shows to the accompaniment of both pop and classical music. The Planetarium, which is a laser theatre, is the biggest youth night club in Budapest.

Gellért hill

Getting there: trams: 41, 47, 49 buses 7 station Szt. Gellert ter

Gellert hill is very popular place because of its fantastic views over the city. The big statue near the base of the hill is of Bishop Saint Gellert who came to Hungary from Italy. There are the Citadel which was built by Habsburgs on the top of the hill, Statue of liberty on the top of Gellert hill – you can see her from the almost all parts of the city. It has became the symbol of Hungarian capital, cave church – opposite the entrance to the Gellert Baths. It´s open from 8:00 –19:00 without admission. The church was formed in a natural cave system according to the caves in Lourdes. In the central chapel you can see the statue of St. Paul, with his raven on his shoulder. There is the elegant spa Hotel Gellert which was built in Art Nouveau style. It has both outdoor and indoor swimming pools, thermal pools, steam baths, sauna, offers different massage types.

Ponti

Budapest has many interesting structures including bridges and buildings. The bridges are very interesting not only as structures but as historical monuments. Bridges of Budapest are over the river Danube.

The Liberty Bridge

is the third southernmost public road bridge in Budapest. It is located at the southern end of the City Centre. On Buda side it ends in Gellért tér and on Pest side in Fővám tér (with the Great Market Hall). The bridge was built between 1894 and 1896. The bridge was opened in the presence of Emperor Franz Josep. It is 333.6 m in length and 20.1 m in width. It is one of the most used bridges in Budapest by cars, trams and pedestriants. When driving on to the bridge two large pillars are seen and on top of each is a mythical Turul bird. These can also be seen on the Hungarian coat of arms.

The Chain Bridge

Connects Buda and Pest across the Danube. On Pest side the Chain Brifge ends in Roosevelt Square and on Buda side in Adam Clark Square. A large chain was used to span the river. The chain has links that are very similar to the ones seen on a bicycle chain. The road way is suspended from the chain. The bridge is 380 metres in length.

The Elisabeth Bridge

The Elisabeth Bridge is the second newest bridge and one of the most elegant ones of Budapest. It is situated at the narrowest part of the Danube between the Chain Bridge and the Liberty Bridge. The bridge spans only 290 m. On the Buda side at the foot of Gellért Hill and on the Pest side on March 15th square. The name comes from Queen Elisabeth who was tragically assassinated even she was a very popular Queen of Austria – Hungary. After World War II it was not possible to rebuild the original form.

The Árpád Bridge

is the most northern bridge in Budapest connecting Buda and Pest across the Danube. It is the longest bridge in Hungary with around 2 km with the sections leading up to the bridge, and 928 m without them. It is 35.3 m wide. In Buda the bridge ends in Szentlélek tér. Árpád híd is the northern entrance to Margaret Island and it overlooks Óbuda Island as well.

The Margaret Bridge

is the second northernmost and second oldest public bridge in Budapest. The Margaret Bridge became the second permanent bridge in Budapest after the Chain Bridge. It is 637.5 m in length and 25 m in width. On the Pest side Margaret bridge ends in Jászai Mari tér and on the Buda side in Germanus Gyula park. The bridge is split into two parts enclosing 150 degrees with each other because of the connection to Margit island.