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BUDAPEST - Sightseeing Highlights

THE BUDA SIDE
The name Buda Castle covers more than a castle or the Royal Palace in the capital city; it extends to the historical quarter full of sites. The most exiting way of getting to the Castle is by taking the Funicular up the Castle Hill.

The Royal Palace is situated on the southern part of Castle Hill. The medieval palace that stood here was destroyed during the battles against Turkish invaders, leaving only the fortified walls as a memento. The site was then filled in to lay the foundations of the new grandiose Baroque palace started by Maria-Theresa and expanded on Hungarian initiative in the 19th century. The Palace itself was gutted during the Second World War. Today, it is the home to important cultural institutions and museums: Hungarian National Gallery, the National Széchényi Library, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Budapest History Museum.

The Castle District is one of the most romantic pedestrian sections in Budapest - a medieval little town with atmospheric streets, picturesque houses, gas lamps and beautiful monuments. The winding streets and narrow houses date back to the Middle Ages, elegant Baroque and Louis XVI-style palaces are relics of the restoration work after the Turkish occupation.

Castle District houses are famous for their medieval doorway sedilia ornamented with Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance stone arches were probably used as a rest place for visitors' escorts. Today, they serve as a "speciality" of Buda that distinguish it from other cities of the world.

The Castle District is also renowned for the Ruszwurm confectionery founded in the year 1827, offering cakes made according to famous old recipes, as well as last century furniture and cosy little rooms.

Matthias Church - the church is almost as old as the Royal Palace and has been the venue of several coronation ceremonies. Every king and époque left its mark on the building until the Turks occupied Buda in 1541 and converted the temple into a mosque, whitewashing - and thus preserving - its medieval frescos. Matthias Church gained its current form at the turn of the century when a lot of smaller buildings attached to it earlier were pulled down and the church was reconstructed in characteristic neo-Gothic style. The magnificent acoustics make it a popular concert venue.

Fisherman’s Bastion completed in 1905, although it never served a defensive purpose. The floodlit row of bastions offers a panoramic view onto the other bank of the Danube. The cityscape opening up from there, including the Fishermen's Bastion, has been part of UNESCO's World Heritage since 1988. The crypt of the ancient St. Michael Cemetery Chapel (the first written record dates from 1443) was opened to the public in 1997.

CONNECTING BUDA AND PEST
Chain Bridge was the first permanent bridge over the Danube. Budapest owes its construction to Count István Széchenyi who had to wait a week before he could cross the river to bury his father. This is when he decided to build a permanent crossing for the city, the bridge was finally completed in 1849. In 1999 a monumental ceremony and the installation of new floodlights marked the 150th anniversary of the bridge.

Elisabeth Bridge bears the name of Queen Elisabeth. A statue on the Buda side of the bridge stands in memory of Elisabeth. The bridge was blown up by retreating German troops in 1945 and was so badly damaged that reconstruction was out of the question. A new bridge was thus constructed in its place with the same span as the original.

Liberty Bridge was inaugurated in 1896 as part of the monumental series of ceremonies organized to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the arrival of the Magyars in the Carpathian Basin. The third bridge on the river, it was originally named after Francis Joseph: the Emperor himself ceremonially fixed the last rivet on the bridge. Unable to escape its fate, this bridge was also blown up during the war, but was later rebuilt.

Margaret Bridge The second permanent bridge in Budapest built between 1872 and 1876 based on the plans of a French architect. There is an embranchment from the middle pillar onto Margaret Island - the only section of the bridge still maintaining the original structure.

THE PEST SIDE
Vörösmarty Square  Váci Street, the pedestrian main street of downtown Budapest, sets out from here and the square holds the two most popular cafés of the capital: old Gerbeaud and trendy Art Café. Anyone in town will surely drop by, and if the weather is fine take a coffee on a terrace or rest on a bench, and when the weather turns cold sit behind a café window.

Gerbeaud is one of the most famous and oldest confectioner's shops even after having been renovated it has still kept the atmosphere of the 19th century. Gerbeaud used to be the favourite confectioner's shop of Sissi (Queen Elisabeth). Gerbeaud brasserie, situated in the basement, has recently been finished, where beer brewed on the spot is served with the brand name Gerbeaud.

Váci Street was the first street in Budapest to be pedestrianised, but it was one of the best places for shopping long before this change. The street was formed in the 18th century but most houses date back to the 19th and early 20th century. It quickly became the shopping centre and later the esplanade of the Pest side.

Pest Concert Hall is a masterpiece of Hungarian Romantic architecture. It was opened in 1865 and has seen the appearance of such celebrities as Franz Liszt, Wagner, Brahms, Richard Strauss, Bartók and Kodály.

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