Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Gellért Baths
Built in 1918, these are the
best known and most luxurious
baths in Budapest. There is a
sublime main pool, with bal-
conies, columns and stained-
glass windows, as well as more
traditional thermal baths. In
summer, the open-air swimming
pools at the back are popular
with chess-playing old men who
spend all day here. Although the
baths are attached to the Gellért
Hotel, their entrance is on the
side street
(see pp16-17)
.
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Cave Church
The landmark Gellért Monument
little the worse for wear, although
it still retains its original majesty
when viewed from afar. It is
especially striking at night, when
it is superbly lit. The statue and
the enormous Neo-Classical
colonnade that lanks it were
designed by Gyula Jankovits
and Imre Francsek.
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Map J5
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Queen Elizabeth
On Easter Monday 1951, the
Hungarian secret police arrested
the Pauline monks at the Cave
Church, murdering the leader
Ferenc Vezér and sentencing the
others to long prison sentences.
The church was then bricked up
and forgotten until August 1989.
This remarkable place of wor-
ship, which is hewn into the
Gellért hillside, was founded by
monks of the Pauline Order after
they visited Lourdes, France,
in 1926. The revived
order once again
presides over the
church, which is
closed to the public
when services are
in progress.
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Map K6 • V, Szent Gellért
rakpart 1 • 385 15 29
• Open 9am-8pm daily
Monument
Although the wife of the
Habsburg emperor, Franz
József, was not Hungarian
by birth, she adored
her adopted
subjects and made
great efforts to
soften Austrian
attitudes towards
Hungary. A number of
streets, bridges and
monuments throughout
the nation are named after her.
The monument dedicated to
Elizabeth (Erzsébet) that overlooks
the Danube from the Gellért
embankment was designed by
György Zala and erected in 1932.
Its original home was on the other
side of the river, from where it
was removed by the Communists
in 1947. It wasn't until 1986 that
the statue was reinstated at its
present site.
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Map K5
Carving on the altar
of the Cave Church
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Gellért Monument
According to legend, the
city's patron saint, Bishop Gellért
(see p71)
was pushed off the hill
that now bears his name for
attempting to convert Budapest's
citizens to Christianity, including
young Prince Imre, the son of
Stephen I (István). Constructed in
1904, the monument to this
Christian martyr is now looking a
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