Jax Stumpes: Passage to Eastern Europe: Buda (8/26/2021)

Thursday, August 26, 2021 (continued)

After returning to the InterContinental Hotel after the morning shore excursion, we then boarded a motorcoach for the rescheduled included shore excursion, Panoramic Budapest, which started with a quick run-through of Pest.

Apáczai János Csere emlékmű/
János Csere Apáczai Memorial (1961,
by Tibor Vilt) for the Transylvanian
Hungarian educator who wrote
the first textbook in Hungarian

Nagyboldogasszony Főplébánia-templom/
Assumption Inner City Parish Church (1725-1739,
by György Pauer János in Baroque style)

Gellért-hegy/Gellért Hill at the end of Erzsébet híd/Elizabeth
Bridge (1961-1964, by Pál Sávoly in Brutalist style); also seen
is the Gellért emlékmű/Gellért Monument (1904, by
Gyula Jankovits) for St Gerard of Csanád, the first
Hungarian bishop who was martyred at this spot
when thrown down the hill in a spiked barrel (1046 CE)

At the top right on the hill is Hegedűs Villa (1913-14, by Ferenc Császár, after a villa in Genoa, Italy), a former waterworks building, now housing a company that provides steam heat to the neighborhood. How many people in the United States have heard of heated sidewalks throughout a city, or a single power plant that can provide heat and air conditioning to all area businesses?

Gosh, the elegant Magyar Állami Operaház/Hungarian
State Opera House (1875-1884, by Miklós Ybl
in Neo-Renaissance style) is covered in scaffolding

Ady Endre szobra/Endre Ady Statue (1960, by Csorba Géza)
of a Hungarian poet and journalist, is located in
Liszt Ferenc tér/Franz Liszt Square (the Franz Liszt
statue is at the other end of the square) (KSS)

Food delivery service folks wait outside Burger King

Terror Háza/House of Terror (1880, by Adolf Feszty) was the
headquarters of the Hungarian Nazi Arrow Cross Party
from 1940-1945;, the party leader Ferenc Szálasi was
installed as prime minister of Hungary in 1944 and his
party was involved in deportation of Jews and
the torture and murder of "enemies of the state"

Following World War II, the "House of Terror" became the headquarters of the Állambiztonsági Hatóság/ÁVH/State Security Authority (1948-1956), which was essentially the secret police of the Hungarian Communist Party under Soviet influence. This was the era of forced confessions and executions without trials, and people wary that a neighbor could turn them in for little reason.

However, the House of Terror Museum, which was created in 2002 by the current Hungarian government, has been controversial. They seem to want the world to equate Facism with Communism, and to excuse Hungarians as the victims of these regimes, as we have heard before.

To the far left is a piece of the Berlini fal/Berlin Wall

Első világháborús vasútas hőseinek emlékmű/
World War I Memorial to Railway Workers (KSS)

Entry to the Budapest Metro (KSS)

Hősök tere/Heroes' Square (1986-1906, for the Millennium
of the founding of Hungary in 896) is filled with
stage scaffolding and seating for outdoor concerts

Heroes' Square features the Millenáriumi Emlékmű/
Millennium Monument with a statue of Archangel Gabriel
on the column, and statues of Labor and Wealth on the far end
of the colonnade and Knowledge and Glory on the near end

In the spaces of the colonnade of the Millennium Monument are statues of the heroes, mostly the early kings and princes of Hungary, one military leader, and Lajos Kossuth.

On the right side of Heroes' Square is the Műcsarnok/
Kunsthalle/Museum of Contemporary Art (1896,
by Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herczog
with a portico in Greek Revival style) (KSS)

On the left side of the square is the Szépművészeti Múzeum/
Museum of Fine Arts (1900-1906, by Albert Schickedanz
and Fülöp Herczog in eclectic Neoclassical style) (KSS)

Erzsébet Boulevard at Wesselényi Street with a tram,
cars, and pedestrians and probably few problems

Kossuth Lajos Street #11 with banner

The banner may be a bit optimistic!

Okay, now we are on the Buda side! At the entrance to the
Várkert Bazár/Castle Garden Bazaar (1875-1883, by
Miklos Ybl in Neo-Renaissance style) is an ornamental
garden used for concerts and exhibitions

On the left is the Budavári sikló/Buda Castle Funicular
(est 1870, destroyed in WWII, rebuilt 1986), and on the
right is the entrance to the Budai Váralagút/
Castle Hill Tunnel (1856-1857, by Adam Clark)

View from below of Halászbástya/Fisherman's Bastion
(1899-1905, by Frigyes Schulek, on 1700s foundation
walls, damaged in WWII, restored in 1953)

We left the motorcoach to walk up on Castle Hill.

Houdini-ház/Houdini House is a museum devoted to
Harry Houdini, who was born in Budapest as Erik Weisz;
his family moved to the United States when he was four years old

Honvéd-szobor/Statue of the Independence
War (1893, by Zala György) is dedicated to
the defenders of the Buda Castle in 1849 (KSS)

A flower box contains Nepenthes sp/pitcher plants
(they do not grow in Europe!)!

Tárnok Street #14 is a medieval trading house that
has been restored by painting in a 16C pattern

Szentháromság tér/Holy Trinity Square with
its Szentháromság-szobor/Holy Trinity Statue
(1713, by Fülöp Ungleich) was erected by
survivors of a plague in thanks and in hope
of preventing future pandemics (hah!)

Mátyás Templom/Matthias Church (est 1015,
rebuilt multiple times including as a mosque
by the Ottomans in 1541, 1874-1896 rebuilt
by Frigyes Schulek in late Gothic style,
damaged during WWII, repaired)

Matthias Church interior; the church carries
the name of Matthias because he began his
reign here in 1458 and was married here twice

The coat of arms of Matthias flanked by two
figures of soldiers from his Black Army; on the
coat of arms is a black raven (a symbol of
Matthias) with a ring in his beak; this is the
original coat of arms (1470) that was
displayed outside on the tower

The Chapel of Loreto contains a statue of
Mary and Child (1515) which was in a niche
plastered over by locals when the Ottomans
converted the church into a mosque

There is a story that when there was a gunpowder explosion in 1686 at the castle, the plaster crumbled to reveal the smiling face of Mary. This supposedly so unnerved the Ottomans that Buda was easily recaptured by the Christian forces.

Chapel of St Stephen has stained glass
windows (by Bertalan Székely)
featuring Hungarian saints

Up a spiral staircase to the gallery with a museum of
ecclesiastical objects including copies of the Hungarian
coronation treasures (for a closer look)