Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
www.semmelweis.museum.hu
;
I Apród utca 1-3; adult/child 700/350Ft;
10.30am-6pm Tue-Sun mid-
Mar-Oct, to 4pm Tue-Sun Nov-mid-Mar; 86, 19)
This quirky (and sometimes grisly) museum traces the history of medicine from Graeco-Ro-
man times through medical tools, instruments and photographs; yet another antique phar-
macy also makes an appearance. Featured are the life and works of Ignác Semmelweis
(1818-65), the 'saviour of mothers', who discovered the cause of puerperal (childbirth)
fever. He was born here.
BRIDGE
ELIZABETH BRIDGE
A gleaming white (though rather generic-looking) suspension bridge dating from 1964, El-
izabeth Bridge enjoys a special place in the hearts of many Budapesters, as it was the first
newly designed bridge to reopen after WWII (the original span, erected in 1903, was too
badly damaged in the war to rebuild). Boasting a higher arch than the other bridges span-
ning the Danube, it offers dramatic views of both Castle and Gellért Hills and, of course, the
river.
BRIDGE
LIBERTY BRIDGE
Opened in time for the Millenary Exhibition in 1896, Liberty Bridge (Szabadság híd) has a
fin-de-siècle
cantilevered span. Each post of the bridge, which was originally named after
Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph, is topped by a mythical
turul
bird ready to take flight. It
was rebuilt in the same style immediately after WWII.
STATUE
ST GELLÉRT MONUMENT
Looking down on Elizabeth Bridge from Gellért Hill is a large and quite theatrical monu-
ment to St Gellért, an Italian missionary invited to Hungary by King Stephen to convert the
natives. The monument marks the spot where, according to legend, pagan Magyars, resist-
ing the new faith, hurled the bishop to his death in a spiked barrel in 1046.
STATUE
QUEEN ELIZABETH STATUE
To the northwest of Elizabeth Bridge is a statue of Elizabeth, Habsburg empress and Hun-
garian queen. Consort to Franz Joseph, 'Sissi' was much loved by the Magyars because,
