Architecture of Hungary. Must see and must visit landmarks

» The Buda Castle is the historical castle of Hungarian kings in Budapest.
» The fortress has been rebuilt and restored for several times.
» The oldest part of the present castle was built in the 14th century.
» Gradually, the castle became a cultural center with museums of Budapest (the Hungarian National Gallery, the Budapest History Museum) and the National Library.
» The Buda Castle is decorated with the equestrian statue of Saint Stephen, who was canonized for Christianization of the Hungarians.

» The Dohany Street Synagogue is the largest synagogue not only in Budapest, but also in Europe.
» The area of the synagogue is 1,200 m2.
» The height of towers of the buildings is 44 m.
» The synagogue can accommodate more than 3,000 worshipers.
» The synagogue is a 2-storey building with three naves of white and red brick decorated with colored ceramics, amazing cornice and rose-style window.

» The Ethnographic Museum in Budapest is one of the largest museums of ethnography in Europe.
» The museum is dedicated to the culture of Hungarian people, as well as other European and non-European folks from primitive society to the civilized one.
» In total, the museum's collection consists of nearly 200 thousand exhibits, including artwork, photography, clothing, accessories and jewelry from different eras.
» The museum collection embraces the hunting, beekeeping, fisheries, livestock and pastoral labor, agriculture, crafts, food and kitchen utensils, folk costumes and textiles, housing, customs, religion, games, musical instruments and so on.
» Permanent exhibitions are called The Traditional Culture of the Hungarian People from Primitive Communities to Civilization, Hungarian Folk Art and Culture and Life of the People of Africa, Indonesia and Asia.

» The Gresham Palace is the architectural monument built in 1907 in Art Nouveau style specifically for Gresham insurance company.
» Facade of the castle is decorated with numerous rounded elements, smooth crossings and floral ornaments.
» World War II and post-war Communist government of Hungary have brought Gresham Palace to ruins. Only in 1989, the palace was passed into the hands of a private owner of the professional management company, Roi, which raised $85 million for restoration of the monument and its conversion into a luxury hotel.
» Since 2004, the Palace Gresham houses the most expensive five-star hotel in Budapest, Seasons.

» The Hungarian Parliament is the hallmark of Budapest. Here is the residence of the Hungarian Government.
» Construction of the parliament building was conceived after the unification of Buda (the western part of the Hungarian capital situated on the right bank of the Danube) and Pest (the eastern part of the Hungarian capital separated from Buda by the Danube) in 1873.
» The Hungarian Parliament Building is the largest in the country. It consists of 691 rooms, 29 staircases and 10 courtyards.
» The building is very symbolic for the people of the country. Even the height of the central dome (96 meters) is tied to the 896, the date of the conquest of the territory by the Hungarians.
» The Parliament is decorated with dozens of sculptures of heroes of Hungary, including soldiers and great generals, as well as princes of Transylvania.
» About 40 kilograms of gold were used to decorate halls within the building.

Location on the map:   Interesting facts: » Kunsthalle Budapest is the art gallery in Budapest.
» Its exhibition hall has the largest number of exhibitions in the country.
» The exhibition hall was done in the classical style with six columns and bright mosaic on the front; it was opened in 1895.
» Unlike many other galleries, Kunsthalle Budapest doesn’t have its permanent collection, but modern Hungarian and European artists and the art community systematically represent their works there.

» The Matthias Church is the Catholic Church within the Buda Castle, built in the second half of the 14th century in a magnificent late Gothic style.
» The bell tower of the Matthias Church is 80 meters high, so that’s the tallest building of Buda Castle.
» Almost the entire interior of the church was created in the late 19th century, when the church has undergone a massive rehabilitation and reconstruction.
» One of the interesting interior solutions is using beautiful stained-glass windows.
» The gallery of the church, which leads to the underground crypt, houses the museum of religious art.

» The Museum of Applied Arts can be easily recognized due to its conspicuous roof tiles of emerald color. The museum opened in 1896, the year of the millennium of Hungary.
» The museum is located in a building constructed in style of Art Nouveau in the 1893-1896.
» Its exhibition features unique works by Hungarian and European art from the 16th century to the present day. The main exhibition of the museum consists of glass, ceramics of the Hungarian factory Zsolnay, textiles, clothing, china, musical instruments, jewelry, tableware, clocks, and family treasures of aristocratic Esterházy family.
» Terraces and balconies located around the perimeter of the huge museum under a glass dome and leading directly to the halls of the exhibition are of particular interest.

» The Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest is the largest collection of works of foreign art in Hungary.
» The museum was built in 1896 in neo-classical style by the architect Albert Schickedanz and Fulop Herzog.
» Main exhibition of the Museum of Fine Arts consists of six departments: Department of Ancient Egypt, Department of Ancient Art, a collection of old sculpture from Austria and Germany, department of drawings and prints, gallery of new artists (Delacroix, Rodin, Monet, Manet and Cezanne), and old Masters Picture Gallery.
» The Museum of Fine Arts organizes temporary exhibitions, where such famous museums as the Louvre represent their collections.

» The National Theatre is the main drama theater of Budapest, founded in 1837.
» The modern building of the National Theatre was opened in 2002.
» The main hall of the National Theatre accommodates 619 spectators.
» The stage of the main hall has dimensions of 24x18 meters and a height of 28 meters.
» The park around the building of the theater is an open stage housing sculptures on the theatrical theme.

» The St. Stephen Basilica is the Roman Catholic cathedral, which is the largest temple of the Hungarian capital.
» The height of the cathedral is 96 meters. The building of the St. Stephen Basilica, along with the parliament building, is the tallest building in Budapest.
» The St. Stephen Basilica is one of three largest and most beautiful churches in the country.
» Interior of the church is richly decorated with mosaics made by the best Hungarian artists.
» The altar space houses the statue of St. Stephen. Around the statue of the saint there are five bronze bas-reliefs depicting scenes from his life.

» The State Opera House is the biggest Hungarian Opera House, accommodating 1,261 seats.
» The State Opera House is also the main stage for the Hungarian National Ballet.
» The building of the Opera House has a horseshoe shape and occupies the third place on the acoustics in Europe after Milan's La Scala and the Paris Opera House.
» The theater building was constructed in neo-Renaissance style by architect Miklos Ybl and richly decorated by ornaments, sculptures and paintings in Baroque style. Paintings of Bertalan Szekely, Than Mor and Karol Lotz, which can be seen along the stairs inside the building and in the auditorium, are particularly notable.

» Szechenyi thermal bath is the largest bath complex and spa in Europe.
» Baths are supplied with thermal water from the St. Stephen Well Nr.2, which has been put into operation in 1938, and six smaller cold water wells.
» Different types of therapy are available at the bathhouse.
» Healing water of bath is recommended to those suffering from degenerative diseases of joints, as well as to complement the treatments of chronic and semi-chronic inflammation of joints, orthopedic therapy, and post-traumatic rehabilitation.
» Water from Szechenyi thermal bath is used by the Budapest Zoo for bathing hippos, because its chemical make-up is similar to the composition of Nile. Due to that water the hippo family living in the zoo annually gives offspring, although usually hippos aren’t breed in captivity.

» Vajdahunyad is the castle in City Park in Budapest.
» The castle has being built in the period from 1896 to 1908 by architect Ignatz Alpari. The castle has been originally built of wood, and was later rebuilt in stone.
» The Vajdahunyad Castle was built during celebrations of the millennium of Hungary to showcase the elements of the 21 famous buildings of the country.
» Since the castle gathered the parts of buildings from different eras, it reflects various architectural styles: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque.
» Currently, Vajdahunyad Agricultural Museum is situated in the castle.