POWER AND ART

/GOODBYE BUDAPEST - APRIL 2006


"PARLIAMENT - After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867, in which a dual monarchy was created, Hungary wrote its own constitution. The Parliament was built between 1895 and 1902 and it is said that it was at the time the largest parliamentary building in the world (268 meters long and 123 meters wide). The Seat of Democracy is hosted in a building that is one of the most impressive in Budapest, and surely my favourite!"



"MAIN STAIRCASE - The Parliament building includes more than 20 km of staircases. The main staircase is absolutely stunning"


"DOME - The elegant dome has a height of 96 meters. Actually, 96 seems to be a very important figure in this building; it's said to be related to the millennium commemorations of 1896"


"GOLD - The decorations needed about 40 kg 22-23 karat gold"


"CROWN - When Stephen became King of Hungary on Christmas Day in the year 1000, Pope Sylvester II made him the gift of a crown. During World War II, the crown was taken out of Hungary and was later transferred to the United States Gold Reserve at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. In 1978 President Jimmy Carter decided to return the Crown and so the original Holy Crown is now at the Parliament building, together with the orb, the sceptre and a Renaissance sword"


"LIGHTS AND VITRALS"



"SESSION HALL - An incredibly beautiful gilded room"


"ART DECO - The night club Parisiana (1908-1909) by Béla Lajta has an incredible history. Its name was changed to Crystal Pallace in 1910, Dance Pallace in 1912, Variety Theatre in 1919, Blaha Lujza Theatre in 1921, Studio of the National Theatre in 1925, and later Studio Theatre and Andrássy Theatre. The façade was refurbished in the early 1950s, and the name was changed to Jókai Theatre. In 1962 the façade frieze was demolished and the building was named Thalia Theatre, Bartók Theatre in 1971, Budapest Children's Theatre in 1974, Arany János Theatre from the eighties. The reconstruction of the building was made by the mid-eighties and its greatest achievement is that the old face of the Béla Lajta building was resurrected. It's now the New Theatre"


"THE OPERA HOUSE was designed by Miklós Ybl (1878-1884) in Renaissance style and Ferenc Erkel conducted the inaugural concert in 1884"


"MAIN STAIRCASE - The Opera House was reopened after reconstruction in 1984, the year of its centenary"



"LIGHTS"


"OPERA ROOM - The ceiling of the horseshoe-shaped three storey auditorium is decorated with the paintings of Károly Lotz"


"OUR BOX, next to the Presidential..."


"BALLET"

***

Alice and Marie were kind enough to give me the "You make my day" award. It’s even kinder, as it’s known that my intervention in blogosphere is not daily. Thank you both for the award!



It seems that the award rules say: "Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."
So I'll pass the "You make my day" to:

Ash, Backpakker, Celine, Chris, Irina, Isabella, Ming, Peter, Shionge, Sally and to all others that make my day, whenever I manage to have a blog-visiting day...

THE DIVA OF THE DANUBE

STROLLING IN PEST - APRIL 2006

After showing views from the Castle and the hills in Buda, as well as of the water of the Danube, this post pays homage to some beautiful buildings in Pest.


"THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, the first museum of Hungary, was founded by Count Ferenc Széchenyi in 1802. The neoclassical building was designed by Mihály Polláck, took ten years to be built and opened in 1847 as the fourth largest museum in Europe. Rafael Monti prepared the sculptures of the tympanum, including a female personification of Pannonia, enthroned holding laurel wreaths in her hands. Today, the main exhibitions of the Museum focus on the history of Hungary from the Palaeolithic era to the present times"



"DEAK FERENC TER - Further to some quite interesting buildings, the place hosts the Meridien Hotel and three stations on the M1, M2, and M3 lines of the Budapest Metro"


"SAINT STEPHEN'S BASILICA is Hungary’s largest church and the second highest in ecclesiastical ranking, after the Esztergom Basilica posted here. Its construction was started in 1851, but its dome collapsed in 1868, and thus the building was complete only in 1905. The interior features about 50 different types of marble and, behind the main altar you can see an extraordinary holy relic: Stephen's preserved right hand"


"CENTRAL BANK - The building (1902-1905) was originally constructed as the headquarters for the Austro-Hungarian Bank by Ignác Alpár (1855-1928). Alpár was one of the great Hungarian architects, also responsible for some other impressive bank buildings in Budapest, nowadays used for different purposes: the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Finance, the Budapest Stock Exchange and the home of Hungarian Television"


"FORMER POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANK - The bank was designed by Odön Lechner, the architect who tried to fuse Hungarian folk elements with the Art Nouveau style, and was built in 1901"


"BUDA SEEN FROM PEST"


"IMRE NAGY, who was Prime Minister immediately prior to the 1956 uprising and tried to introduce some reforms pulling away from Soviet Union, took refuge in the Yugoslavian Embassy after the uprising was crushed. Though he had assurances of safe passage, Nagy was arrested as soon as he left the compound, was tried and executed in 1958, and buried in an unmarked site of the Budapest cemetery. Nagy's body was exhumed and given a state burial in 1989 and this statue was erected in 1996"



"THE DIVA OF THE DANUBE - From the Pest bank of the River there is a beautiful view towards Buda, Matthias Church, the Fishermen's Bastion and the Castle"


"HÖSÖK TER - The Heroes Square, at the end of Andrassy Avenue, is home to the Millennium Monument and to the Millennial Column. The Monument was built in 1896 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Magyar conquest; The 36 meter high Column is topped with a statue of the Archangel Gabriel and has equestrian statues of the 7 Magyar chiefs who actually conquered the territory (Arpad, Elod, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba, Tohotom) at the basis"


"THE FINE ARTS MUSEUM, on the northern side of Heroes' Square, houses some masterpieces from El Greco, Goya, Rembrandt and Rubens, as well as other items dating back to the Egyptian era. One of the most impressive galleries in Central Europe, a great part of its collection comes from the Esterházy family, once one of the most influential families in the country. During our stay, there was an important exhibition on Sigismund from Luxembourg, son of the emperor Charles IV and King of Hungary from 1387 through 1437"


"ART PALACE - On the southern side of Heroes Square, the Palace was built in 1895, in neoclassical style. It's the greatest exhibition hall in Hungary and it regularly organizes themed exhibitions; Coolhunters - Jugendkulturen zwischen Medien und Markt - was shown then. According to Wikipedia, «Coolhunting is a term coined in the early 1990s referring to a new breed of marketing professionals, called coolhunters. It is their job to make observations and predictions in changes of new or existing cultural trends»!"


"VAJDAHUNYAD was built in wood and cardboard for the city’s millennium exhibition in 1896. Its success was so huge that a decision was taken to make it more permanent, using brick and stone. The castle, actually an enclave of buildings rather than just one structure, was designed by architect Ignác Alpár and seems to have been modelled after a castle with the same name in Transylvania"


"VÖRÖSMARTY TER is named after the early 19th century Hungarian poet Mihály Vörösmarty, who is known for his patriotic lyrics. The Square is one of the busiest places in Budapest and it's also the start of the city's most famous shopping street, Váci Utca"


"THE GERBEAUD is a wonderful pastry shop owned by a Swiss family. The café was established by Henrik Kugler in 1858 and expanded by its later owner, Emil Gerbeaud. It’s decorated with marble tables and beautiful wall coverings and is large enough to hold 300 customers at a time at the Cafe, the Restaurant and the Pub. Don't miss the Esterházy and Dobos cakes"


"GRESHAM'S BUILDING - I've already posted a picture of the Gresham Palace, but I believe the building deserves another chance"

FROM BUDA TO PEST

BUDAPEST - APRIL 2006

THIS IS THE 150th POST ON BLOGTROTTER!

Coming down from Gellert Hill, we got to the Gellert Baths, still in Buda. Then we crossed Independence Bridge and arrived at Fövám Tér, already in Pest!


"HOTEL GELLERT - This jewel of Art Nouveau, located at the foot of Gellert Hill on the right bank of the River Danube, was erected between 1916 and 1918 and opened to the public on September 24th, 1918"


"GELLERT BATHS - Next to the Gellert hotel one can find the world famous Gellert Baths"




"INSIDE GELLERT BATHS - The Hall, the Pool and the first floor"


"THE INDEPENDENCE BRIDGE (333.6 m long and 20.1 m wide) was built between 1894 and 1896 for the millennium celebrations. It was then called Franz Joseph Bridge and it was the king himself who, at the inauguration ceremony, hammered the last silver nail into the bridge. The bridge was destroyed in 1945, as the Nazis left Budapest. But in 1946 it was rebuilt again in the same style with the central towers decorated with Hungary's coat of arms"


"ELIZABETH BRIDGE (380 metres long) is one of the eight bridges in Budapest. The original construction took place between 1897 and 1903 and many houses had to be destroyed at the Pest end of the bridge. The bridge was blown up in 1945 by the retreating Nazi troops. It was rebuilt in 1961-1964 by Pal Savoly, and was the first newly designed bridge to reopen after WWII"


"FÖVÁM TÉR - On the other side of these buildings one may find the National Theatre opened in 2002"


"GREAT MARKET - The building was constructed for the millennium exhibition in 1895-97 according to plans by Samu Petz, and reopened in 1996 after a major face-lift"




"INSIDE THE GREAT MARKET HALL - Vegetables, souvenirs (including paprika for the goulash and perkölt, tokaji and caviar) and iron structures (which justify that sometimes it is referred to as «a symphony in iron») are on display. It is the largest of the market halls in Budapest"



"THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE (75m long and 27m wide) was built between 1854 and 1859. The original synagogue, basically Moorish in style, with two tall towers, was bombed by the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross Party in 1939, but a reconstruction programme (with the help of funds raised by the actor Tony Curtis - born Bernard Schwartz - whose father was from Mateszalka in Szabolcs County) was completed in 1996"




"INSIDE THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE - The synagogue is the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world after New York City’s Temple Emanu-El; it seats 2,964 people"


"BURIAL GROUNDS"


"TREE OF LIFE is a 1991 memorial located on the Raoul Wallenberg Park, designed by Imre Varga and dedicated to the memory of the Hungarian Jews that perished in the Holocaust. The monument resembles a weeping willow tree and the names of the dead can be found on the leaves. It also pays tribute to many non-Jews who helped save Hungarian Jews from extermination"