Parliament & Around - Budapest - page 205

The interior contains just short of 700 sumptuously decorated rooms, but you'll only get to
see a handful on a guided tour of the North Wing. Through the Lion Gate you ascend the
sweeping 96-step main staircase , with frescoes by Károly Lotz and stained glass by Miksa
Róth. This leads to the 16-sided, 66m-high Domed Hall where the Crown of St Stephen ,
the nation's most important national icon, is on display, along with the 15th-century ceremo-
nial sword, the orb (1301) and the oldest object among the coronation regalia: the 10th-cen-
tury Persian-made sceptre , with a large crystal head depicting a lion. The guards here
change hourly between 8am and 7pm. You'll also see one of the vaulted lobbies , where
political discussions take place, and the 400-seat Congress Hall , where the House of Lords
of the one-time bicameral assembly sat until 1944. It is almost identical to the National
Assembly Hall, where parliamentary sessions are held, in the South Wing.
Crown of St Stephen
Legend tells us that it was Asztrik, the first abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Pannon-
halma in western Hungary, who presented a crown to Stephen as a gift from Pope Sylvester
II around AD 1000, thus legitimising the new king's rule and assuring his loyalty to Rome
over Constantinople. It's a nice story but has nothing to do with the object on display in the
Domed Hall. The two-part crown here, with its characteristic bent cross, pendants hanging
on either side and enamelled plaques of the Apostles, dates from the 12th century. Its
provenance notwithstanding, the Crown of St Stephen has become the very symbol of the
Hungarian nation. The crown has disappeared several times over the centuries - purloined
or otherwise - only to later reappear. It was damaged when placed in its carrying case in the
17th century, giving it a slightly skewed look. More recently, in 1945, Hungarian fascists
fleeing ahead of the Soviet army took the crown to Austria. Eventually it fell into the hands
of the US army, which transferred it to Fort Knox in Kentucky. In January 1978 the crown
was returned to Hungary with great ceremony - and relief. Because legal judgments had al-
ways been handed down 'in the name of St Stephen's Crown' it was considered a living
symbol and thus to have been 'kidnapped'!
Government
Hungary's constitution provides for a parliamentary system of government. The unicameral
assembly sits in the National Assembly Hall in the South Wing from February to June and
from September to December. A change in the electoral laws in late 2012 reduced the num-
ber of members to 199 (from 386); they are now chosen for four years on a one-round sys-
tem. Of the total, 106 MPs enter parliament by individual constituency elections and 93 on