Useful informations of The Capital City of Hungary, Budapest

Budapest – a conglomerate of Buda, Pest and Old Buda (Óbuda) – has been the unified capital of Hungary since 1873. But not only that: an industrial, commercial, cultural and infrastructural centre ofNthe country. There is no comparison to it in Europe. In fact, it is not a unique beauty spreading on the two banks of the river Danube, but a place where almost every fifth Hungarian lives. „There is almost no life outside of Budapest”, as the saying goes. The capital city Budapest is a treasurehouse of historic, renaissance, baroque, eclectic style buildings – public and private; and also of castles, medieval and Turkish-era memorials, museums, galleries (all 223 if them), statues, bridges, thermal baths etc. One of the things that strikes the eye in Budapest is the Westminster-style building of the national assembly built in 1904. If you start your walkin Budapest on the Pest side of the river, just between the Margarethe and Chain bridge, you stop at the house of the Parliament. It is one of Europe’s most splendid buildings. The neo-gothic palace is 268 m long and its dome is 96 m high. The outer walls are decorated with the statues of Hungarian kings and outstanding military leaders. From there it is only a 200 m walk that you reach the Chain bridge (Budapest most famous bridge) spannig the river. With it the dream of the „greatest Hungarian”, Count István Széchenyi came true in the middle of the 19th century, with the help of Englishmen, by the way. On the other side of the Danube you arrive at the foot of the Castle Hill of which the royal castle occupies the southern part. The northern part is called the Old Town, a place full of centuries-old buildings and being on the UNESCO’s world heritage list. The Castle Hill is one of Budapest’s main tourist attraction. It offers not only sights but the one of the best gastronomic pleasures, too. If you get there, don’t miss the Király restaurant which offers an intimate look into the fantasies of the Hungarian kitchen and also a unique evening entertainment with an outstanding Gipsy orchestra and folklore party. Not far from that Hungarian Restaurant Király you may fall in love with the Matthias chuch and the Fisherman’s bastion, both Budapest’s landmarks. The church was mentioned first in the records of 1247 being the main early Gothic- style building in the area and the coronation place of the Hungarian kings. It later underwent a long string of constructions and demolitions until the last quarter of the 19th century when the famous architecht, Frigyes Schulek rebuilt it in neo-Gothic style. Right behind the Mathias church the bastion – a neo- Romanesque „ensemble” of towers and corridors, rejuvenating the old fortress – offers a panoramic view of Pest. The royal castle, the former residence of Hungarian kings, a neo-baroque building in its present form, has been in ruins long after World War II but now, almost totally reconstructed, is a place for a number of museums and other attractions. If you come down from the Castle Hill, there is a wide choice of places to go. Back in Pest and close to the Chain bridge there is the Millenium metro – the first of its kind in the continental Europe – by which the traveller can easily reach the Heroes square, the City Park and the famous buildings of the 1896 Budapest Expo. But before boarding the metro you are well advised to take a short stroll in the heart of downtown Budapest, have a look at the main shopping area (Fashion Street) or just walk on hefamous Danube promenade. From there you can cast a nostalgic glance at the Castle Hill just visited.