Zagreb - Budapest

Budim Castle, Budim or City [1] (Hungarian: Budai Var, Turkish: Budin Kalesi, Slovak: Budínsky hrad) is a court complex of Hungarian kings in Budapest, the first parts of which date from 1265. In the past it was also known as the Royal Palace (Hungarian: Királyi Palace) and the Royal Castle (Királyi Vár). It is located on the southern tip of Dvorsko Brdo and is surrounded by a part of the city known as the Várnegyed District which is known for its residential and public dating buildings from the Middle Ages, Baroque and the 19th century. Through its funicular and then Szécheny Suspension Bridge, the castle is connected to Adam Clark Square on the other side of the Danube. offers views across the Danube to the historic center of Budapest. The Budapest Castle with its surroundings, the Danube Shore, Andrássy út Avenue with Heroes Square (Hősök tere) and the Millennium Underground Railway (the oldest in Europe) are UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Budapest.

Hungarian Parliament Building

The Parliament Building is built in the Gothic Revival style; it has a symmetrical façade and a central dome. The dome is Renaissance Revival architecture.[9] Also from inside the parliament is symmetrical and thus has two absolutely identical parliament halls of which one is used for politics, the other for guided tours. It is 268 m (879 ft) long and 123 m (404 ft) wide. Its interior includes 10 courtyards, 13 passenger and freight elevators, 27 gates, 29 staircases and 691 rooms (which includes more than 200 offices). With its height of 96 m (315 ft), it is one of the two tallest buildings in Budapest, along with Saint Stephen's Basilica. The number 96 refers to the nation's millennium, 1896, and the conquest of the later Kingdom of Hungary in 896. The main façade overlooks the River Danube, but the official main entrance is from the square on the east side of the building. Inside and outside, there are altogether 242 sculptures on the walls. The façade displays statues of Hungarian rulers, Transylvanian leaders and famous military figures. The coats of arms of kings and dukes are depicted over the windows. The eastern staircase is flanked by two lions. When entering the Parliament, visitors can walk up great ornamental stairs, see frescoes on the ceiling and pass by the bust of the architect, Imre Steindl, in a wall niche. Other statues include those of Árpád, Stephen I and John Hunyadi. One of the famous parts of the building is the hexadecagonal (sixteen-sided) central hall, with huge chambers adjoining it: the Lower House and the Upper House. The modern National Assembly is unicameral and meets in the Lower House, while the Upper House is used as a conference and meeting room. The Holy Crown of Hungary, which is also depicted in the coat of arms of Hungary, has been displayed in the central hall since 2000. Further features include the stained glass and glass mosaics by Miksa Róth. Due to its extensive surface and its detailed handiwork, the building is almost always under renovation.

Heroes' Square

Hősök tere is surrounded by two important buildings, Museum of Fine Arts on the left and Palace of Art (or more accurately Hall of Art) on the right. On the other side it faces Andrássy Avenue which has two buildings looking at the square – one is residential and the other one is the embassy of Serbia (former Yugoslavian embassy where Imre Nagy secured sanctuary in 1956). The central feature of Heroes' Square, as well as a landmark of Budapest, is the Millennium Memorial (Hungarian: Millenáriumi Emlékmű, also translated Millennium Monument or Millennial Monument). Construction began in 1896 to commemorate the thousandth anniversary of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin and the foundation of the Hungarian state in 1896, and was part of a much larger construction project which also included the expansion and refurbishing of Andrássy Avenue and the construction of the first metro line in Budapest (Hungarian: Földalatti). Construction was mostly completed in 1900, which was when the square received its name. The four allegoric sculptures were added in 1906, the monument as a whole basically looked like it does today (except for the kings' statues), complete with the surrounding museums on either side, and it was inaugurated still in the same year, 1906. When the monument was originally constructed, Hungary was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and thus the last five spaces for statues on the left of the colonnade were reserved for members of the ruling Habsburg dynasty. From left to right these were Ferdinand I (relief: Defense of the Castle at Eger); Leopold I (relief: Eugene of Savoy defeats the Turks at Zenta), Charles III, Maria Theresa (relief: The Hungarian Diet votes support "vitam et sanguinem") and Franz Joseph (relief: Franz Joseph crowned by Gyula Andrássy). The monument was damaged in World War II and when it was rebuilt the Habsburgs were replaced by the current figures. On 16 June 1989 a crowd of 250,000 gathered at the square for the historic reburial of Imre Nagy, who had been executed in June 1958. There are also three other squares in Budapest entitled Hősök tere, in Soroksár, Békásmegyer and Rákosliget. A lesser known fact even for Hungarians that the Memorial Stone of Heroes (Hősök emlékköve) is not a tomb and is erroneously referred as the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier". Hungary has no Tomb of Unknown Soldier like most European countries, neither any memorial to the unknown fallen of wars. No human remnants interred here, there is only an artesian well under the tombstone-like memorial. The Memorial Stone of Heroes was originally erected in 1929 as a tribute to those who died for defending Hungary's 1000 years old borders. It was removed in 1951 as its message was politically unacceptable for the Communist regime. The current one has been built at the same spot in 1956. The memorial is surrounded by a fence and it's off limits for Hungarian citizens. The Ministry of Defence only opens the gate for foreign dignitaries and official state ceremonies. Behind the cenotaph but within the decorative chain is a flat bronze plate which marks the site of an artesian well whose drilling was completed in 1878 by Vilmos Zsigmondy. This well provides water for the Széchenyi Baths behind the monument and the Dagály Baths in the Népfürdő utca. The well reached a depth of 971 meters and produces 831 liters of hot water per minute at 74 degrees Celsius The Heroes' Square monument has a 90% duplicate in Shanghai Global Paradise, Shanghai. Since its opening in 1996, it has been mostly degraded and most statues removed.