Passage to Eastern Europe: Budapest Parliament (8/26/2021)

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Relief mural in the InterContinental Hotel

After the included buffet breakfast at the InterContinental Hotel, we took a few minutes to photograph the Buda part of Budapest on the western left bank of the Danube River, now nicely lighted by the sun.

Várhegy/Castle Hill with the Budavári Palota/Buda Palace

The iconic Széchenyi Lánchíd/Széchenyi Chain Bridge
(1840-1849, by William Tierney Clark, rebuilt 1949)
is under scaffolding being renovated and is closed to traffic

Artist Ignác Roskovics (2011, by Mihajlo Kolodko)
paints the view of Széchenyi Chain Bridge

Our optional shore excursion, Highlights of Budapest,
started with a tram ride on the #2 line

Only Viking guests are wearing face masks in Budapest

We took the tram to the stop on the north side of
Parliament, and could see the apartment building
where we stayed in 1993, thanks to Dot and Tom L!

Tisza István emlékmű/István Tisza Monument (2014,
replacing the 1934 monument that was removed by the
Communist government after World War II); Tisza
was prime minister of Hungary during the beginning
events of World War I, but was assassinated by anti-war
factions in 1918; our local guide stated that Hungarians
seemed to kill their leaders, then erect a statue to them

Atop the monument is a lion, perhaps depicting Hungary,
fighting off the serpent of evil, enemies, etc

We next toured Magyar Országház/Hungarian Parliament
(1885-1904, by Imre Steindl, in a mix of Gothic Revival
and Renaissance Revival style for a bicameral government),
the third largest Parliament building in the world;
this is the north half which is visited by tourists

Upon fact-checking, it appears that the Hungarian Parliament is listed as the third largest legislative building in the world, after #2, the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania and #1, the Pentagon. So, the Pentagon is a legislative building?! The Houses of Parliament in London, England was an inspiration for the design of the Hungarian Parliament, and the latter is rumored to be a meter wider and longer!

We started by climbing 133 steps. The visitor center is underground, and we seemed to enter the Parliament from the basement.

The Golden Staircase (City Side
Staircase XVII) may have had 126
steps if the 133 included other steps
to reach it, but who is counting?!

The Golden Staircase ceiling has some of the
40 kg/88# of gold, spread thinly as gold leaf

Stained glass windows (by Miksa Róth) (KSS)

Stained glass windows in the City Side Corridor

Stained glass detail

City Side Corridor (KSS)

The Grand Staircase has 96 steps, and the height
of the building is 96 m, which symbolizes
the establishment of Hungary in 896 CE

Grand Staircase ceiling frescoes;
at the top of the photo is
The Glorification of Hungary
(by Károly Lotz)

In a small niche is a bust of the architect,
 Imre Steindl, who did not live to see
the completion of the building

No photos were allowed in the impressive Dome Hall,
where the Hungarian crown treasures are displayed;
the Hungarian Holy Crown (c 1000 CE) is among the
oldest coronation regalia in Europe

It is said that one is not truly the King of Hungary unless he has had this very crown placed on his head in a coronation ceremony; the last was Charles IV in 1916. In 1945, the coronation regalia was sent to the United States and held in Fort Knox (Kentucky) for protection. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter returned the treasures to Hungary.

The scepter is a rare product of 10C Fatimid caliphate, which
ruled an area on the northern Mediterranean edge of Africa

We happened to be in the Dome Hall for the changing of the guard!

The orb (14C) has a two-barred apostolic cross, a symbol
awarded to St Stephen, the first King of Hungary,
for his efforts to convert Hungary to Christianity

The preceding crown treasures photos were taken from a multimedia presentation in the visitor center.

The Lounge of the Chamber of Peers
or Upper House is said to have the largest
hand-knotted carpet in Europe

In the lounge are sculptures of old
Hungarian ethnic groups and trades (KSS)

More trades sculptures (KSS)

The ceiling here was also covered
with frescoes

A peek into the Chamber of Peers of Upper House,
which is no longer used as a legislative room,
because, since 1944, Hungary has had a unicameral
government and the National Assembly meets
in the former Chamber of Deputies or Lower House

Delegates have desks with electronic voting

In the hallways outside the Upper House are rows and rows
of cigar holders with each slot numbered, since smoking
was not allowed in the Chamber; now smoking is no
longer allowed anywhere in the Parliament building

North Courtyard with a glass roof over
the visitor center museum

Dimmer switches? But the top and bottom
of the slide say open and close,
and are set at open (KSS)

In the museum is a photograph of changing the
Dome Hall chandelier lightbulbs from above

Model of the Hungarian Parliament, seen from the river side

Cut-away model of the Hungarian Parliament

During the Communist era, this red star was
located on top of the Parliament dome (KSS)

The #2 tram passes the Parliament building

Okay, I think I have the whole building in the photo!

Next: More Pest.