Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Where Have All the Statues Gone?
Ever wonder where all the vanished Communist statues went after the fall?
Over 15 years ago, Budapest and the rest of Hungary were filled with mon-
uments to Lenin, to Marx and Engels, to the Red Army, and to the many
lesser-known figures of Hungarian and international Communism. Torn
rudely from their pedestals in the aftermath of 1989, they sat in warehouses
for a few years gathering dust, until a controversial plan for a Socialist
Statue Park (Szoborpark Múzeum) was realized. The park's inconvenient
location and the relatively small number of statues on display (reflecting
nothing of their former ubiquity) make the park less enticing than it could
be. In addition, the best examples of the genre, dating from the Stalinist
period of the late 1940s and 1950s, were removed from public view long
before 1989 and were presumably destroyed long ago.
Located in the XXII district (extreme Southern Buda) on Balatoni út
( & 1/424-7500; www.szoborpark.hu), the park is a memorial to an era, to
despotism, and to bad taste. The museum gift shop sells all sorts of Commu-
nist-era memorabilia, such as T-shirts, medals, and cassettes of Red Army
marching songs. The park is open daily from 10am to dusk and admission is
600 Ft ($3/£1.55). To get to the park, take the black-lettered bus no. 7 from
Ferenciek tere to Etele tér. Board a yellow Volán bus (to Érd) for a 20-minute
ride to the park. Or, for a premium, you can take the new and convenient
direct bus service from Deák tér for 2,450 Ft ($12/£6.30) (admission ticket to
the park included). The timetable varies almost monthly, but 11am and 3pm
departures remain constant for July and August.
embankments along the river, and bikes are available for rent. There are several snack
bars, open-air restaurants, and even clubs. Despite all this, Margaret Island remains a
quiet, tranquil place. In any direction off the main road, you can find well-tended gar-
dens or a patch of grass under the shade of a willow tree for a private picnic. Margaret
Island is best reached by bus no. 26 from Nyugati tér, which runs the length of the
island, or tram no. 4 or 6, which stops at the entrance to the island midway across the
Margaret Bridge. Warning: These are popular metro lines for pickpockets.
City Park (Városliget) is an equally popular place to spend a summer day, and
families are everywhere. Heroes' Square, at the end of Andrássy út, is the most logical
starting point for a walk in City Park. Built in 1896 as part of the Hungarian millen-
nial celebrations, the square has been the site of some important moments in Hungar-
ian history. The lake behind the square is used for boating in summer and for
ice-skating in winter (p. 322). The Vajdahunyad Castle, located by the lake, is an
architectural mishmash if there ever was one. The castle was built as a temporary
structure in 1896 for the millennial celebration in order to demonstrate the different
architectural styles in Hungary; it was so popular that a permanent structure was even-
tually designed to replace it. It is now home to the Agricultural Museum, the largest
of its kind in Europe, which has especially interesting exhibitions on Hungary's grape
and wine industries. Admission to the museum is 900 Ft ($4.50/£2.30); it's open in
summer, early fall, and late spring Tuesday through Friday and Sunday from 10am to
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