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.