March 1998 Budapest

Normally, I repeat normally, Budapest in late March would be in the first phase of spring.  We checked the computer and the three day forecast was in the mid to upper 50’s.  This website being part of the tourist bureau we anticipated it may be somewhat padded.  Yet the TV predicted low 50’s.  We opted for spring coats.  Big mistake!  We had snow flurries the first day we were there.  Most other days it was cool, but the wind made it down right cold.  The best day was the morning and early afternoon when we went up to the Citadel.  By late afternoon it was cold and windy again. 

Budapest is cheaper than Praha.  Prices will begin jumping up as time goes by just like it has in Praha.  A one liter bottle of wine was just under $1.  Museums were between 50¢ and $1.  Dinners with one drink each were $10, except for the night we went to the Chicago Restaurant.  It was closer to $20.  

The city of Budapest is large, 2 million people.  Praha is about 1.5, maybe.  It is actually two cities that joined as one about 120 years ago, the city of Buda on the west side of the Danbue River and the city of Pest on the east side.  Buda is on the side of a mountain (it’s too large to call a hill), whereas Pest is very flat.

Budapest has been all but demolished on several occasions.  In the mid 1500’s when it fell to the Turks and in the mid 1800’s during a brief uprising with Austria.  During W.W.II the city suffered a lot of destruction from bombs.  Then in 1956 the Soviets came in with tanks and a few bombs to suppress a Hungarian revolt. 

Because of the destruction and the forming as early as the 1700’s of an urban planning commission, the Pest side has main streets that start at the center of the city and fans out.  The secondary streets run in a straight line for the most part.  Naturally, the Buda side was limited to following the contours of the land.  All of this made navigating within the city easy.  It is a certainty that you will lose your bearings in Praha following 14th century streets that never seem to run straight for more than two or three blocks.

Like Praha every type of architecture can be found, Gothic, Baroque, Neo Classic, and a lot of Art Nouveau.  The big difference is Praha has opened a few more cans of exterior paint.  The main tourist areas naturally have been painted in the last few years, but, the majority of the outlining area it is noticeable dull and in need of paint.  Buildings are stucco-ish just like most of Europe and when the paint has faded off it has the color of cement.

Castle Hill area is built on a plateau mid way up the side of the mountain on the Buda side.  It is about a mile long but relatively narrow.  The northern part is a small township of historic burgher houses.  The huge cultural complex dominates the southern part.  None of the structures of the original great medieval palace built in the mid and late 1400’s have survived intact.  What little was left was razed in the 1700’s to make way for the new palace and outer buildings.  These were severely destroyed during the Hungarian uprising in 1849.   Reconstruction again took place, but not in the form of a palace.  The complex was then built for a number of cultural institutions. 

One of the cultural places which we viewed was the Budapest Historical Museum. It illustrates the history of Budapest and in particular Castle Hill.  In the very deep basement and built on the original royal palace foundations is the reconstruction of the two story Gothic Chapel of 1360 and the Gothic Great Hall.

Through a back entrance and terrace of the museum we were able to view the ruins of a tower from the 1300’s and sections of the inner walls and outer walls of the fortification of the 1700’s and 1800’s.

In the middle of the Castle Hill area is Matthias Church.  The church started out being called St. Mary’s in 1255.  Construction continued until 1470.  A large addition was built in the 1400’s and that is when the church’s named changed to honor the ruler of that time.  It suffered extensive damage when it was sacked and burned by the Turks in 1526.  After the ousting of the Turks, it came into the hands of the Franciscans and then the Jesuits.  After suffering heavy war damage in 1945 the church remained closed until reconstruction that required sixteen years (1954-1970).

We arrived at the church late Sunday morning.  Mass was still in progress so we stood in the rear of the church.  A Cardinal was giving Mass.  It was kinda neat to see the pomp that goes along with that type of service.   Even though it was in Hungarian the Mass was easy to follow, naturally.

At the opposite end of the Castle Hill area of the former palace is the Military History Museum.  We only viewed the wing that contained the section on the Hungarian uprising of 1848-1850.  Generally, we have found European museums to have good cafe/restaurants.  This one did not so we left to find lunch with the intent to return thereafter.  We got to walking around the Castle Hill area just absorbing the spectacular views and the exterior of the historic burgher houses on the relatively sunny day.  We ended up on the opposite end of Castle Hill from the History Museum.

To the south and higher up the mountain is the Citadel.  It was built in 1850 in the medieval style and initially was used as a barracks.  The walls are 12’ high and 10’ thick.  In 1899 it was converted into a hotel and restaurant.  The exterior walls of the fortress have remained.

There is a superb view of the Pest side of the city and of Castle Hill.  We should have gone up a second time after dark to view the city lights, but we were too tired at the end of each day.

Near our hotel is City Park and Heroes’ Square.  We walked through diagonally across the 200 acre park toward Heroes’ Square.  We were able to get a good view of how large and tranquil the park is.  Very few bushes were in bloom.  Most had buds just waiting for a few warm days to bloom.

Heroes’ Square was built for the 1896 celebration of 1,000 years of Hungarian history.  Between the two wings of the semi-circular colonnade stands a 120 ft. tall Corinthian column bearing a figure of the archangel Gabriel.  According to legend the archangel delivered the royal crown to St. Stephen (the first Hungarian King).  Around the pedestal of the semi-circle are equestrian statues and various statues of Hungarian freedom fighters.

On each side of the large square are museums.  To the north is the Fine Arts Museum and to the south is the Arts Hall.  The Arts Hall is used for sculptures and temporary exhibits.

The Fine Arts Museum, which we viewed, is very large to say the least.  It is most known for its collection of Spanish arts, most notably seven El Greco’s.  Although it does not contain a large collection of the Old Masters that we are familiar with, it does have an extensive collection of paintings from the 1500’s thru 1800’s.

Another attraction of City Park is Vajdahunyad Castle.  This again was built for the 1896 millennium celebration.  The literature that we had said “Vajdahunyad is twenty Hungarian architectural styles assembled into a miniature fairy-tale castle”.  However, we found out it is a castle in exterior only.  It was built to house the Museum of Agriculture, offices for the city museums, and a restaurant.  It was interesting to walk around the grounds none the less.

From City Park we took a bus to the center of the Pest side.  City Park is at the end of the main street called Andrassy.  It is dominated by large mansions of the 1800’s.  Many are now used as embassies for various countries and have been reconstructed and repainted to their former grandeur.

In downtown Pest we also went through the Hungarian National Museum.  Generally, we would not view a museum that overlaps in contents with one we had already viewed, in this case the Budapest Historical Museum, but it was cold outside and warm inside.  Once we had viewed it we decided it was superior to the Historical Museum so we were glad we went through it.  This museum, as the name states, illustrates the history of Hungary.  It contains the coronation jewels from when it was ruled by monarchs.  Not as impressive as Great Britain’s, but worth seeing none the less.  The interesting part is that vast majority of its collection is from private donations.  This museum should be viewed in a day and a half or two days to really appreciate its full contents.

Also in the downtown area is St. Stephen’s Basilica.  Construction began in 1845.  In 1868, before the church was even near completion, the main large dome collapsed.  Reconstruction began in a more Neo-Renaissance style rather than the baroque style originally planned.

The alter area is the most prominent as it is in a semi-circle.  A large statue of St. Stephen is in the center of the semi-circle.  It is contained within its own pillared dome and with an archangel on the top of the dome.

The right hand of St. Stephen is preserved in a gilded reliquary in a side church.  St. Stephen was the first king of Hungary.  He was later canonized.  The reliquary was taken to Heroes’ Square for blessings from Pope in 1992.