Monuments to visit Budapest

Originally intended for the city of Zenta (today Senta, Serbia), the equestrian statue of Eugene of Savoy was purchased by Emperor Franz Joseph and erected in front of the present entrance to the Hungarian National Gallery, at the very place where a monument to the emperor was to be installed in 1900. Eugene of Savoy liberated Buda from the Turks in 1697, so he is still in this triumphant position. Damaged in 1944-1945, the statue was taken down in 1968 and restored in 1971.

This statue, designed by Imre Varga in 1996, commemorates the 1956 revolution leading figure, Imre Nagy, who demanded the withdrawal of Soviet troops and the independence of the country, while advocating reformed Communism. The bridge on which the statue is based seems to be a metaphor for the transition from totalitarianism to democracy, a democracy symbolized by the Parliament to which Nagy rotates.

According to legend, it is this almost mythological bird among Hungarians, the symbolic "turul", that led Árpád, the ancestor of the Magyars, to the Carpathian basin. It is not clear what type of bird it was, probably an eagle or a falcon. In any case, the word is of Turkish origin (where it simply means little bird). The representation of the turul is omnipresent in Hungary around historic sites.

The tower is the remnant of the Church of Mary Magdalene, built in the 13th century, completed in the 15th and a place of worship for the Hungarian population in the Middle Ages. During the Turkish reign, it was spared a time of conversation as all other churches were transformed into mosques, and welcomed Catholics and Protestants before finally being used as a mosque. Entirely destroyed during the Second World War, only its panoramic tower remains.

A theatre of very violent clashes during the revolution of 1956, of which they were the headquarters, the old barracks (or barracks Kilián) no longer bear the marks of the impact of the bullets they were victims of.

The square, which has been refurbished, owes its name to the Lóránd Eötvös University, more commonly known as ELTE, where the law department is located. To the left of the square, a beautiful 18th century baroque church (Egyetemi Templom) has a wooden portal carved by the friars of the Order of St. Paul.Bástya, Képiro, Szerb or Magyar streets, starting from the University Square, are narrow and lined with pastel-colored houses, and are ideal for a stroll.