Sights and Activities
Below are the places we saw and activities completed while visiting Hungary:
Budapest
St. Stephen’s Basilica: a Roman Catholic basilica, named in honor of the first King of Hungary (c 975–1038), whose right hand is housed in the reliquary. It is the third largest church building in Hungary.
Hungarian Opera House: we passed by, but unfortunately did not go inside, this 1884 neo-Renaissance opera house.
Parliament: this huge riverfront building dominates the Pest side of the city. It is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, one of Europe’s oldest legislative buildings, and a notable landmark of Hungary. It is currently the largest building in Hungary and still the tallest building in Budapest. We were able to view its beauty during the day and night from Castle Hill on the Buda side.
Terror House Museum: this museum focuses on the crimes and atrocities committed by Hungary’s fascist and Stalinist regimes in the 20th century.
Matthias Church: this beautiful neo-Gothic church located on Castle Hill features a colorful tiled roof.
Castle Hill: high above the Danube River on the Buda side of the city, this hill contains old streets and great city views.
Fisherman’s Bastion Monument: Hungary’s first king is immortalized in this equestrian St. Stephen statue. Just behind the monument we were able to walk in the evening along the Fishermen’s Bastion, a fanciful, neo-Gothic arcade, built on the fortification wall, which boasts great views of the river and the parliament.
Royal Palace: we walked around this palace located on the far end of Castle Hill. The palace was completed in 1265 and housed Hungarian kings.
Hosok Tere Square: this public space holds a sprawling monument constructed to honor the millennial anniversary (in 1896) of the Magyar conquest of the Carpathian Basin.
City Park: this park gave us a relaxing and romantic feeling as we strolled by a small lake with couples on paddle boats and ducks gingerly swimming.
Great Synagogue: we toured this 1859 synagogue that also contained a museum with an exhibit on the Holocaust, a Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs in the shape of a weeping willow, and a cemetery. This is the second largest synagogue in the world, which looks more like a cathedral than a traditional synagogue. The size and design was purposely created to appear more like other churches around the area in order to “fit-in” to the largely dominated Christian population.
