| Budapest - 10 Things to See and Do |
Hungarian National Museum
Housed in a Grecian-style edifice, the Hungarian National Museum was only the fourth such ethnographic museum in the world when it opened in 1847. Its stated task is to collect and preserve the historical relics of Hungary and the Hungarian people, to scientifically elaborate the material of the collections and to exhibit them to the public. Chronologically it encompasses all the periods from the emergence of man to the present day. It underwent a major refit, completed in 2003, which has resulted in two new subterranean levels, devoted to medieval and Roman sculptures. The centrepiece of the latter is a 3rd century mosaic floor from a villa at Balácpuszta in western Hungary. Also accessible from the foyer is a darkened room displaying Byzantine silk coronation robe of King Stephen (Hungary’s first King and founder of the Hungarian state), which is far too fragile to be exhibited in the Parliament building.
Parliament Building
Inspired in part, by the Gothic-revival style of the Palace of Westminster, with Renaissance and baroque flourishes, and completed in 1902, the Parliament Building (Országház) dominates the skyline on the Pest side of the Danube in the same way as Castle Hill dominates the Buda side. It is not only Budapest’s most finely decorated building, but also one of the largest Parliaments in Europe, sprawling for 268 metres along the embankment. It has two symmetrical wings that bristle with finials and statues of Hungarian rulers and is surmounted by a 96 metre tall dome. Inside, there are 691 rooms, immense halls and more than 15 kilometres of corridors. Guards holding drawn sabres flank the Coronation Regalia, whose centrepiece, St. Stephen’s Crown, has symbolized Hungarian statehood since Stephen’s coronation in 1000 AD. Group excursions take place when Parliament is not in session, usually taking in the chamber of the former upper house (you can actually sit on the members’ benches).
St Stephen's Basilica
St Stephen’s Basilica (which stands on the square of the same name) is Budapest's largest church, holding more than 8000 worshippers. Work on it began in 1845 and wasn’t completed until 1906. Indeed the fact that the church exists at all is something of a miracle when you consider that the vast dome collapsed half way through construction. The building also had to be extensively reconstructed after allied bombing raids during World War II. The interior is somewhat gloomy, but very beautiful, lavishly decorated carvings, frescoes, chapels, variegated marble, gilded stucco and bronze mouldings. Adding a touch of the macabre, the Szent jobb kápolna (chapel of the Sacred Right) contains the gnarled, mummified hand of St Stephen, Hungary’s holiest relic. In a rather surreal exercise, you can pay a small fee for one of the resident attendants to flick a switch, lighting up the small glass case containing the hand.If this isn’t your idea of fun, take the lift instead to the Panorama Tower. Besides offering a grand view over Pest, it also allows you to see the framework of girders and ladders inside the cupola. The paved piazza, full of cafes just outside the Basilica also makes an excellent stopping-off point.
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