Through Four Seasons' Eyes Budapest - IMEX America

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Parliament
Országház
The Hungarian Parliament
remains the largest building in
Hungary, more than a century
after its opening. Vaguely
modeled on London’s Palace
of Westminster and built at
the significant height of 96
meters (896 being perceived
as the time of the Magyar
conquest, prompting the
millennial celebrations and
huge architectural development
around the pivotal year of 1896),
the Országház makes effective
use of its location, a slight curve
in the Danube on the Pest side.
Designed by Imre Steindl, said
to have gone blind before his
creation was complete, it befits
the dual capital of a major
European empire. Governing
Hungary today takes up less than
15 per cent of the space and some
of its 691 rooms have actually
never been fully used. Guided
tours take in the ornamental
staircase, ceiling frescoes and
Holy Crown of Hungary.
Royal Palace
Királyi-Palota
Today’s Royal Palace atop Castle
Hill bears little resemblance
to the sumptuous Renaissance
court devised by King Mátyás
in the latter half of the 15th
century. The delicate Italianate
decor, the golden ceilings, the
corridor lined with frescoes
and, most notably, one of the
greatest libraries in medieval
Europe, all was laid to ruin in
1686 when Buda was captured by
a pan-Christian force from the
Turks. Apart from pinching a few
books, the occupying Sultan had
barely touched this Renaissance
masterpiece during the 145-year
Ottoman occupation. Razed
in the early 1700s, the palace
underwent several rebuilds in
the Habsburg era but didn’t
survive the brutal combat of
early 1945. It took 30 years for the
complete rebuilding of the palace
complex, which now contains the
Hungarian National Gallery, the
National Széchényi Library and
the Budapest History Museum.
St Stephen’s Basilica
Szent István Bazilika
More than five decades in the
making, the Basilica is named
after Hungary’s patron saint,
whose mummified ‘Sacred Right’
hand is on display in its own
side chapel. The city’s largest
and most important church
dominates the downtown square
of the same saint’s name, its
huge dome of equal height as
the Parliament building a short
distance away. Both Basilica and
Parliament were inaugurated as
part of the Magyar millennial
celebrations at the turn of the last
century. As well as the colorful
frescoes in the ceiling, the main
attraction for tourists is the
panoramic view of Budapest
provided by the dome, accessed
by elevator or a daunting 364
steps. The Sacred Right hand of
St Stephen, Hungary’s first king,
is the centerpiece of the religious
procession that takes place here
and on the adjoining square every
20 August, his saint’s day and a
major national celebration.