Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Szabadság tér and around
For more than a century, Lipótváros was dominated by a gigantic barracks where scores of
Hungarians were imprisoned or executed, until this symbol of Habsburg tyranny was demol-
ished in 1897 and the site redeveloped as
Szabadságtér
(Liberty Square). Invested with sig-
nificance from the outset, it has become a kind of record of the vicissitudes of modern Hun-
garian history, where each regime added or removed
monuments
, according to their politic-
al complexion. For an excellent vantage point from which to admire the square's buildings,
head to the café pavilion in the centre of the square.
The Stock Exchange
In the early twentieth century, Hungary's burgeoning prosperity was expressed by two mo-
numental temples to capitalism on opposite sides of Szabadság tér. To the west stands the
former
StockExchange
,oneofthegrandestbuildingsinBudapest.DesignedbyIgnácAlpár,
it has blended motifs from Greek and Assyrian architecture and is crowned with twin towers
resembling Khmer temples. After the Communists closed down the Exchange in 1948, it be-
came the
headquartersofHungarianTelevision
. During the riots of 2006, protesters broke
into the building, but generally it is closed to the public.
National Bank
Magyar Nemzeti Bank • V, Szabadság tér 8 • Visitor Centre Mon-Fri 9am-4pm, open till 6pm Thurs • Free •
Ignác Alpár, the man behind the former Stock Exchange, also designed the
National Bank
on the eastern side of Szabadság tér, which still functions as such and is notable for the
bas-reliefs on its exterior, representing such diverse aspects of wealth creation as Magyars
ploughing and herding, ancient Egyptians harvesting wheat, and Vikings loading longships
with loot. The stones for its columns were hauled all the way from Transylvania by oxen. The
main entrance on the south facade of the building leads to a stylish
Visitor Centre
featuring
curiosities like the “Kossuth” banknotes that were issued in America during the politician's
exile after the failed War of Independence, and notes denominated in trillions of forints from
the period of hyper-inflation in 1946. The bank also has some fine stained-glass windows on
the stairs, but you can only see these during European Heritage Days in September.
The US embassy
The northern neighbour of the National Bank on the eastern side of Szabadság tér is the im-
posing
US Embassy
; for fifteen years, the latter sheltered
Cardinal Mindszenty
, the Primate
of Hungary's Catholic Church, in the aftermath of the 1956 Uprising. Later, however, the US
becameembarrassedbyhispresence,asdidtheVatican,whichfinallypersuadedhimtoleave
for Austria in 1971.
In front of the US embassy, the stocky figure of
GeneralHarryBandholtz
commemorates
the US general who intervened with a dogwhip to stop Romanian troops from looting the
