Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and entry is through the Visitor Centre (Látogatóközpont), down the steps at the northern end of the Parliament
by the Tisza monument • EU citizens with passport 2000Ft, otherwise 4000Ft •
parlament.hu
The Hungarian
Parliament
building makes the Houses of Parliament in London look
humble, its architect Imre Steindl having larded Pugin's Gothic Revival style with Renais-
sance and Baroque flourishes. Sprawling for 268m along the embankment, its symmetrical
wings bristle with finials and 88 statues of Hungarian rulers, surmounted by a dome 96m
high (alluding to the date of the
Magyar conquest
)
. Though most people are impressed by the
building, the poet Gyula Illyés once famously dismissed it as “no more than a Turkish bath
crossed with a Gothic chapel” - albeit one that cost 38,000,000 gold forints. One weakness in
the design was the white limestone of the exterior, which has been degraded by the elements
and pollution; since 1925 it has required almost constant cleaning and replacement.
Forcenturies,Hungarianassembliesconvenedwherevertheycould,anditwasn'tuntil1843
that it was resolved to build a permanent “House of the Motherland” in Pest-Buda (as the city
was then called). By the time work began in 1885, the concept of Parliament had changed
insofar as the middle classes were now represented as well, though over ninety percent of
the population still lacked the right to vote. Gains were made in 1918, but they were soon
curtailed under the Horthy regime, just as the attainment of universal adult suffrage in 1945
was rendered meaningless after 1948 by a Communist dictatorship. The introduction of mul-
tiparty democracy in 1990 was symbolized by the removal of the red star from Parliament's
dome and the replacement of Communist emblems by the traditional coat of arms featuring
the crown of King Stephen - whose Coronation Regalia is now on show in the building's Cu-
pola Hall.
The interior - and the Coronation Regalia
Having passed through a security check, the extent to which the interior is accessible depends
on Parliament's activities, but you can be sure of seeing the main staircase, the Cupola Hall
and the Lords Chamber, if nothing else.
Despite its archaic style, the building was high-tech for its time, being air-conditioned via
blocks of ice in the basement that kept it at the constant temperature of 25ºC which the archi-
tect reckoned was most conducive to thought - since modern air conditioning was installed,
MPs have complained of back pains. Statues, carvings, gilding and mosaics are ten a penny,
lit by lamps worthy of the Winter Palace - but there are also cosy touches such as the in-
dividually numbered brass ashtrays where peers left their cigars smouldering in the lounge
while they popped back into the chamber to hear someone speak; a good speaker was said to
be “worth a Havana”.
Guards holding drawn sabres flank the
Coronation Regalia
, whose centrepiece,
St Steph-
en's Crown
,
has symbolized Hungarian statehood for over a thousand years. Don't be sur-
prised to see loyal citizens prostrating themselves in its sacred presence. On a humbler note,
