Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The three monuments
Today, three monuments mark the distance that Hungary has travelled since 1989. The
Time-
wheel
is the world's largest hourglass, a metal canister 8m in diameter that rotates 180º on
the last day of each year, symbolizing Hungary's accession to the European Union in 2004.
Where the Stalin statue once stood, you now see the
MonumenttotheUprising
, a forest of
oxidized columns merging into a stainless steel wedge, beside a Hungarian flag with a circle
cut out, recalling the excision of the hated Soviet symbol in 1956. Beyond this, a crucifix
rises over the foundations of the
Virgin Mary Church
that the Communists demolished in
1951.
The Városliget
The
Városliget
(City Park) starts just behind Hősök tere, where the fairy-tale towers of
Va-
jdahunyad Castle
rear above an island girdled by an artificial lake that's used for
boating
in the summer and transformed into a splendid outdoor
icerink
in winter. Between May and
September, pedaloes can be rented out (1800Ft/1hr) from the lakeside building just down
from the tourist office. Otherwise, the park is a great spot to take the kids, with numerous
play areas and acres of space to run around.
Vajdahunyad Castle
Like the park,
Vajdahunyad Castle
was created for the Millenary Anniversary celebrations
of 1896, proving so popular that the temporary structures were replaced by permanent ones.
Vajdahunyad is a catalogue in stone of architectural styles from the kingdom of Hungary, in-
corporating parts of two Transylvanian castles and a replica of the Romanesque
chapel at
Ják
(May-Oct daily 10am-4pm; 100Ft), with a splendidly carved portal and a Renaissance
courtyard that makes a romantic setting for evening
concerts
from July to mid-August.
Next to the church sits the hooded
statueofAnonymous
. Completed in 1903, this nameless
chronicler to King Béla is the prime source of information about early medieval Hungary,
though the existence of several monarchs of that name during the twelfth and thirteenth cen-
turies makes it hard to date him (or his chronicles) with any accuracy.
Agriculture Museum
Mezőgazdasági Múzeum • XIV, Vajdahunyad Castle • Tues-Sun 10am-5pm • 1500Ft • 1 363 1117,
Filling the bulk of the castle these days are the extensive displays of the
Agriculture Mu-
seum
. It's generally a mixed bag, but what is certainly worth the entrance fee is the first sec-
tion, which includes a superb hoard of archeological finds, including exquisitely produced
items of pottery such as milk jugs and butter churns. The breeding of livestock became more
extensive in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, particularly on the Great Plain, where
