A Short Wander Through Budapest, Hungary

There are all sorts of things to do in Budapest. There are shops, shopping malls, spas and baths, cafes, restaurants, museums, grand architecture - there's even a zoo.

There's a huge shopping mall next to the central railway station. The contrast of this bright, modern shopping mall with the old railway station and historic, but often run-down exteriors of the buildings surrounding it, is quite astounding and unexpected.

Budapest has an interesting and fairly complex history. It's a place where the majesty and previous power of its success can be seen, but alongside it there's a lingering impression of the extremely hard times that have been endured by its inhabitants in the past.

Flowing between the two halves of the city is the River Danube. The city is actually made up of three cities: Buda and Obuda (Old Buda), which are on the west bank, and Pest on the east. These were united to form one city in 1873.When I was a kid, and had never heard of the Danube and had no clue where it was, an elderly friend of the family made me aware of Strauss': The Blue Danube. It was her favorite melody and somehow it seemed to encompass some distant dream she had held close for many a decade. Some of the magic of her reverence for this music and place, where that legendary river flowed, remains with me. Even now, when I hear of the Danube I think of her. So I was quite surprised when I found myself, continents away from my childhood setting, standing by that very river.The Danube was very important for fishing, especially during the Middle Ages, and has also been a source of drinking water. In our times, both of these for the most part have ceased to be practical because in most places the river is too polluted.

The Danube is the second longest river in Europe and flows through, or forms a part of the borders, of ten countries. Ocean ships from the Black Sea are able to travel up part way, transporting a tremendous amount of goods. During the second half of the 19th century, Budapest became a hub for industry and the river port played a very important role.We made our way across the river and headed up towards the Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church - you can see, in the photo, it's steeple reaching high up over the other buildings on the hill.


Fisherman's Bastion is a very pretty and appealing place. I did a painting in egg tempera, using this photo for reference. You can see the painting in a previous post, or in my art gallery on DweezelJazz Art web site.

The Fisherman's Bastion is in the Castle District in Buda. It was built around 1900 next to Matthias Church.




It's made up of seven round towers to symbolize the seven Magyar tribes.




To see a little more about the Magyar tribes see previous post "Heroes' Square At Night, Budapest, Hungary".

The view from the Fisherman's Bastion is fantastic. Below are 6 photos stitched together showing most of the view from the Bastion. Click on the photo (as is the case for all the photos on DweezelJazz blog) to see larger.
On the other side of the Danube from the Fisherman's Bastion is the Parliament Building, the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary. It's one of Europe's oldest legislative buildings, its construction being completed in 1904, and it is the second largest Parliament in Europe. A wikipedia article states that there were about a thousand people involved in the construction, which included the use of 40 million bricks, half a million precious stones and 40 kg of gold.




Fisherman's Bastion is a lovely place to walk around. The turrets, statues and light-colored stones contribute to a fairyland wonder.








There are covered passageways with arches overlooking more views.











It feels a warm, friendly place (even in the cold air of January, which is when we were there!).
Amidst its embrace stands the 13th-century church: grand, majestic, fabulous and tall, domineering and serious in its beauty by contrast.

Officially it is named "Church of Our Lady", but is popularly known as Matthias Church after a 15th-century king who rebuilt the church and added the towers.

Fisherman's Bastion Egg Tempera Painting

There are many grand and beautiful buildings in Budapest, Hungary. We visited for a short time so I didn't see them all, but I was very taken by the Fisherman's Bastion. Here is an 18 x 14 inch egg tempera painting of it that I completed a couple of days ago.
I love its rounded contours, simple elegance and the warmth of its light-colored stone. It was built around 1900 and was named after the location on which it is situated: the medieval ramparts of the city walls above the Fisherman's Town. During the Middle Ages, this was the section of the city that the fishermen defended.

You can see photos of Heroe's Square, Budapest in a previous post "Heroes' Square At Night, Budapest, Hungary". And soon there will be another post showing some more of the Fisherman's Bastion and views of the city.

I dropped my laptop mid-December. I had headphones on, and my feet got caught in the lead. Next thing I knew, the computer had landed, screen corner first, on the floor with a resounding crash. Fortunately, it was completely insured for accidents. Unfortunately, it's still with the repair shop. I hope to have it back soon, and then I'll get back to posting regularly and visiting all my blog friends frequently as I used to. I look forward to it. Cheers!
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Heroes' Square At Night, Budapest, Hungary

I'm currently working on an egg tempera painting based on a reference photo taken in Budapest, Hungary. This reminded me of the rather dramatic scenes from a visit which we took there over a year ago.
The first evening we were there, after dinner, we walked down Andrassy Avenue and came upon Heroes' Square. The city is very grand and it almost feels like once upon a time it was inhabited by giants - the architecture is dramatic, the buildings are tall, and rooms are typically constructed with very high ceilings. Heroes' Square is a fantastic display of this grandeur.

The monument is known as the Millenium Monument because it was built in 1896 to commemorate 1000 years of Hungarian history since the Magyar tribes conquered the area in 896.

(Even at this late hour of the evening it wasn't possible to take a photo without tourists getting in the way!)

The colonnades show the kings and princes of Hungary in chronological order.




In the center of the square is a 36 m high column with the Archangel Gabriel on top of it.







Surrounding the column at the bottom are statues of the Magyar chiefs who conquered the land.
Directly opposite one another, on either side of the square, are the Museum of fine Arts and the Palace of Arts. During our visit, there was a Van Gogh exhibition.

Stay tuned for another DweezelJazz post about Budapest, showing views over the city and more interesting architecture.