|
Gellért
Hill
On
the south side the last of the hills is the
Gellért Hill.
The beautiful location of Budapest is largely
due to a 140 meter high dolomite rock which
descends steeply into the riverbed.
The underground part of this rock is 1,000 meters
under the surface at Városliget.
In area, together with its northern slope, the
Tabán, it is almost 60 hectares.
Owing to its exceptional situation, it offers
a peerless panorama of the entire city.
Up to the end of the nineteenth century this
was the limit of the town of Buda, and the hill
served as an outpost and fortress of Buda Castle.
The plateau is still not fully built over: only
on the southern and western slopes can we find
villas.
The top can be reached on foot in a good quarter
of an hour from the Buda end of either Elizabeth
or Liberty Bridge.
Tabán
In the little district of Tabán, which
lies at the northern foot of Gellért
Hill and consist of only.
A few streets, the beautiful eighteenth-century
Baroque St. Catherine Church and the fifteenth-century
Rác baths are the most out-standing monuments.
At the Buda end of the Elizabeth Bridge the
domed building of the Rudas Baths dating from
Turkish times is worth attention.
From the Middle Ages up to the 1930s this was
a densely populated district with hundreds of
small houses.
A large park has taken the place of the houses
which were pulled down.
The
Citadel
The Citadel, the fortress on top of the hill,
was built between 1850 and 1854 by the despotic
Habsburg authorities to control the city after
the suppression of the Hungarian War of Independence.
In 1897 the Austrian troops left the fortress,
and in 1899 the city of Budapest, which bought
it, had the walls symbolically demolished -
as can still be seen next to the main gate -
but then it was again used to house Hungarian
soldiers.
During the 1944-45 siege it was from the Citadel,
that the encircled German troops kept the city
under gunfire until their final surrender.
Today the Citadel serves as a look-out terrace
and has a restaurant.
The
Liberation Monument
The Liberation Monument was erected in 1947
to commemorate the liberation of the country
and in honor of the soldiers of the liberating
Soviet Army.
The female figure holding the palm of victory
together with the pedestal is 40 meters high,
can be seen from all parts of the city.
St
Gellért Monument
Walking down from Gellért Hill towards
Elizabeth Bridge, we come to the statue of Bishop
St. Gerard (Gellért) standing on the
hillside.
It was at this spot that the Venetian missionary
died a martyr's death early in the eleventh
century.
St Gellért, the Bishop of Csanád,
was pushed from the top of the hill by pagan
Hungarians rebelling against Christianity, nailed
into a barrel, as the legend goes (or, as most
historians say, on a wheelbarrow) in 1046.
Hotel
Gellért and Gellért Baths
The Gellért Hotel looks like a huge white
gem, which, unlike other buildings which get
black with time, becomes whiter and whiter.
The hotel, together with the baths, was built
by the city as part of a conscious policy to
make Budapest into a city of baths.
Hotel guests have a separate lift at their disposal
to come down to the baths.
Liberty
Bridge - Szabadság híd
Linking Gellért tér (Buda) and
Fõvám
tér (Pest).
The third permanent bridge (originally Franz
Joseph Bridge) was opened on the occasion of
the Millennium celebrations in 1896.
On top of each pillar, standing on a golden
ball, is a "Turul bird", the mythical
bird of the Hungarians, stretching its wings,
preparing to take off.
Some would-be suicides still climb up here -
most of them are rescued by the fire brigade.
Deer House - Szarvas-ház
This triangular cafe was built at the beginning
of the 18th century in late-Rococo style.
It houses the Aranyszarvas Restaurant, famous
for its game dishes.
Szarvas-ház and the yellow building opposite
have preserved the atmosphere of the old district
of Tabán.
The Statue of Queen Elizabeth
The whole nation mourned the death of Elizabeth,
wife of Franz Joseph, when she was assassinated
in 1898.
She was a great friend of Hungarians and even
spoke our language
The people waited for forty years until it was
set up again in 1986.
Elizabeth Bridge
The predecessor of the present bridge was called
so in honor of Queen Elizabeth.
The old bridge reflecting the late eclectic
center of Pest was demolished by the Germans
in January 1945.
The damage was more serious than that to the
other bridges and reconstruction would have
cost too much.
The new bridge imitates the arch of the old
one, which is perhaps why the people of Budapest
like it so much.
The opening of the bridge was on the afternoon
of 21st November 1964 and turned into an impromptu
festival despite the drizzle.
The new Erzsébet híd has virtually
become the symbol of the capital, the first
modern yet beautiful attraction of the city.
Budapest City Tour:
We are providing you also with
Budapest city tour on your request. The price
for Budapest city tour, 5-6
hours in English language is 60 Euro,
no mater how many person going. Guided tours
Budapest are by public transport and on foot.
Online Reservation Request
for Budapest City Tour:
|
