Castles, chateaus and palaces
Castle palace,
The first castle complex at this point, of which no building certificates can be found, was built in 1241/42. In the 14th century a small palace was built in its place under King Charles Robert of Anjou. King Ludwig of Anjou had this expanded after Budapest became the capital and a large palace complex was built. Over the years the palace has been changed and expanded again and again. During the Turkish rule in the 16th and 17th centuries and the ensuing sieges and fighting, large parts of the complex were destroyed. In the 18th century a new palace complex was built, which was expanded in the 19th century. It was badly damaged in the Second World War, but rebuilt in the post-war years. During this time, remains of the medieval castle complex were uncovered.
Other attractions of the complex are the Matthias Fountain, built in the Baroque style at the beginning of the 20th century, the equestrian statue of Prince Eugen, and the neo-Baroque staircase that leads to the forecourt of the castle.
Opening times: Mon. 1-6 p.m.
Tue-Sat.
10 a.m. – 6 p.m. www.oszk.hu
Nagytétény baroque palace
In the beautiful palace in the southernmost part of Nagytétény, a country residence from the 18th century, part of the Museum of Applied Arts is now housed.
Address: XXII.
Opening times
Tue-Sun 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Schloss Zichy (Zichy-kastély)
This simple baroque palace was built for Count Nikolaus Zichy in the middle of the 18th century. Today it functions as a cultural center and houses the Lajos Kassák Museum and the Vasarély Museum (see below)
Citadel on Gellért
Hill Gellért Hill is a popular destination for Budapesters. Here is a former fortress with the citadel. It was built by the Habsburgs in 1854 during the struggle for freedom from 1848-49. The view of the Budapest panorama from here is particularly impressive. In addition to the citadel, you can also find the statue of Bishop St. Gellért, the rock church of St. Gellért and the Statue of Liberty.
Address: 1118 Budapest, Citadella
Interesting or important monuments
Gellért Monument
Gerhard Sagredo (Hungarian: Gellért) is the patron saint of Budapest. In his honor, a monument was erected high above the Danube on the Gellért Hill named after him in 1904.
Gellért was born in Italy in 980. He later became a monk and abbot in the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. But he resigned and instead went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. According to ebizdir, in 1017 he came to Hungary at the request of King Stephen I () – the first Christian Hungarian king – to help raise his son and also to work as a missionary. In 1023 he was one of the founders of the Bakonybél hermitage and in 1030 King Stephen (969-1038) appointed him the first bishop of Csanád – a region around today’s Szerb Csanád. But after the death of King Stephans in 1038, his successor – King Andreas – forbade the Christian faith again and the Christians were persecuted as a result.
As a result, Gerhard or Gellért was murdered because of his belief on September 24, 1046 on the Gerhardsberg (Gellértberg), which was later named after him
Monument to Sándor Petőfi
Petőfi (Alexander Petrovics) was an important Hungarian poet and also a freedom fighter against the Habsburgs. He was born on January 1, 1823.
In 1844 he accepted a position as assistant editor in Pest and, in the same year, published his first collection of poems. Time and again he campaigned for an independent Hungary in his works.
In the revolutionary year of 1848 he became one of their spiritual leaders. As a result, he became a soldier and on October 15, 1848 captain in the Honvéd battalion in Debrecen. Because of internal disputes, he moved in 1849 as adjutant to the Polish general József Bem.
Petőfi was killed on July 31, 1849 in the battle of Segesvár against the Habsburgs.
Monument to Ferenc Deák
Ferenc Deák was born on October 17, 1803 in Söjtör – a small community in the southwest of Hungary. As a statesman and minister of justice, he endeavored to bring about a compromise between Hungary and Austria. This succeeded after the defeat of Emperor Franz Joseph I in the German War of 1866.
The subsequent negotiations between the Habsburgs and the Hungarian state parliament led in February 1867 to the restoration of the Hungarian Reichstag from 1848 and the formation of a royal Hungarian government. On June 8, 1867, Franz Joseph I was subsequently crowned head of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy in Budapest.
On January 28, 1876, Ferenc Deák died in Pest and was buried in a state funeral in Budapest.
A portrait of him is on the 20,000 forint note. His monument is on Deák Ferenc tér (Deák Ferenc Square) on the Oder.