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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Chain Bridge


1- The Chain Bridge.

2/3/4- This bridge was built in 1849 to link Buda side with Pest side of Budapest. It was designed by the English engineer Wiliam Tierney Clark. It is a larger scale version of Clark's earlier Marlow Bridge, across the River Thames in Marlow, England.


7- The first time I visited it was the evening we arrived, when my host and his father decided to let me see Budapest by night. When I turned my face to the right and watched through the glass of the car, I didn’t believe it: I was watching the fantastic view of the Danube and both Buda and Pest side. I was blinded by hundreds of lights coming from cars, streets, locals and whatever. The only thing I could do was to say “Oh…” and keep enjoying that marvellous view.

Mario Patetta

I found it a spectacular building !
Elisa Casagrande


The statue of King Saint Stephen



1-2 .  The equestrian statue of King Saint Stephen stands just in front of the Fishermen’s Bastion, whose arcades are a spectacular background for it.

3. It was made by Alajos Stobl in 1906. King Stephen is sitting on a horse, wearing the Hungarian crown and the coronation mantle. He has a golden halo to symbolize that he was canonized and became the patron of Hungary.

4.5. It is one of the many statues you can see in Budapest. Around it there are always many tourists, more attracted by the marvelous breathtaking city view from there.

6-7. The statue made me go back in time and think of the origin of the Hungarian nation. Wherever I go, I am always attracted by the historical events and the great characters who contributed to the birth and creation of the country. St Stephen was the first king of Hungary; he was the founder of the Magyar state and established Christianity in Hungary .
I have also found  that the 20th of August  is St. Stephen’s Day in Hungary and it is a public holiday.
Patrizia Coppola

Citadella


1. Citadella, located upon the top of the strategic Gellért Hill in BudapestHungary.
2. It's an fortress on top of a hill and a popular tourist attraction.


3.-4. The fortress was built in 1854,  designed by Emánuel Zita and Ferenc Kasselik. The fortress is a U-shaped structure built about a central courtyard, being 220 metres long, 60 metres wide, and 4 metres tall.

5. It's an attraction for local and non local people. People go there to admire the view. It's also a meeting place for the youth.

6. -7. No, I hadn't heard of it before. When I climbed up the hill, I realized that it was the most beautiful sight I've ever seen.

//Noora Kalliokoski 





Chain Bridge

1. Chain Bridge in Budapest (The Széchenyi Chain Bridge) it's located between        Buda and Pest.

2. It's an iron and stone bridge.

3. Designed by the English engineer William Tierney Clark. The construction beginned in 1840 and the bridge was opened in 1849. The bridge is 375 meters long. When the bridge was opened it became the first permanent bridge in the Hungarian capital, after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. At the time it was one of the largest bridges in the world.

4. The bridge itself is a mix of modern and old styles. In the night-time the bridge is very beautiful to look at because of the lightning.

5. The bridge itself is an attraction.

6. I had heard about it before but didin't know what it looked like. 

7. I saw Chain Bridge at the first time in the night and it made an huge impression on me. It gave me a WOW feeling because I had never seen such an beautiful bridge.

//Ella Barkar

Monday, April 29, 2013

Visegrád Castle




1-2. Visegrád Castle, situated north of Budapest on the right bank of the Danube.
3-4. The building of the fortress was started after the Mongol Invasion (1241). The citadel and the lower fort are connected by an outer wall. The fortress fell into Turkish hands in 1543 and it was reconquered in the end of the century. It was recaptured again in 1686 and then, in 1702 it was broken up.  The restoration began in the nineteen-sixties.
5. It is a tourist attraction.
6-7. I particularly enjoyed the view overlooking the Danube and the conservation state of the castle and its chambers. Climbing up all those stairs is very tiring but at the end, when you reach the top, it’s really worth it.

Marina Esposito

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Margit (or Margaret) Island




1- Margit (or Margaret) Island.

2/3- It  Is an island located in the middle of the Danube in Central Budapest. It is a popular recreational area, covered by parks and medieval  monuments.

4/5- This place is commonly used by  young people as a meeting place, a great place to go for a walk and also to go jogging.

6/7- Walking around the parks, monuments and the zoo of Margit island, I was impressed by the respect of the people for the monuments and the presence of both  human and natural elements.


Mario Patetta

The Fisherman’s Bastion (Halászbástya)




1. Fisherman’s Bastion (Halászbástya) is located in the Castle District, in Buda, behind Matthias Church.
2. It’s a terrace, used as a sort of viewing platform.
3. It was built between 1899 and 1905 at the site of an old rampant that, during the Middle Ages, was defended by the fishermen guild who lived at the foot of the hill. Thus the name of the Bastion.
4. The Bastion was designed by architect Schulek using a combination of neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque styles.
5. It’s one of the main tourist attractions in Budapest.
6. The most unfamiliar aspect of the Bastion is perhaps its seven towers, so high and shiny under the sun because of the white material they are made of.
7. I was very impressed by the spectacular view you can enjoy from the top of the Bastion and by the stairs that link Pest to the top of the hill and the Bastion itself. At a first glance it reminded me of a fairy-tale world. 

                                Marina Esposito

The Statue of the Policeman in Pest



1-2 The statue of a policeman on Zrinyi utca, a street that takes to the Danube River (the Chain Bridge is just on the left). It is very near St Stephan's Basilica on the Pest side of town.

3 It is a bronze statue from the early 1900's.

4-5 I just liked the statue, as I passed it during the free walking tour I did on Saturday morning before our departure .

6-7  I was impressed by the great number of statues Budapest is filled with. They can be seen in almost every district in the city. They are statues  of many famous Hungarians from Saint Stephen, the first King of Hungary to the composer Franz Liszt, as well as other notable Hungarian artists, architects and political figures.

7 How amusing to meet this Hungarian policeman who is wearing his typical uniform! When I saw him, I thought about the food and wine he might like: Gulyásleves (goulash soup), Pörkölt (meat stew),  rétes (strudel) and surely Pálinka!
                                                                                                Patrizia Coppola

Központi Vásárcsarnok – Central Market Hall



1.      Központi Vásárcsarnok – Central Market Hall.  Address: Vámház körüt 1 – 3. It is located at the end of the famous pedestrian shopping street Váci Utza and on the Pest side of the beautiful Liberty bridge.
2.      It is the largest and oldest indoor market in Budapest.  On the ground floor you'll find sausages, meats, cheese, fruits, vegetables and flowers. On the second floor there are souveniers, clothes, textiles and eateries.
3.      It was designed and built by Samu Pecz around 1896. During the World Wars it was completely damaged and then closed for some years. Throughout the 1990s restoration works brought back the market to its ancient splendour.
4.      A distinctive architectural feature is the roof which was restored to have colorful Zsolnay tiling.
5.      The Central Market Hall was full of people: local and tourists. I guess it is a popular meeting place and an excellent place to do some grocery and souvenir shopping.
6.      It is similar to many other market halls but still something special: there are so many paprika products and beautiful Hungarian style articles you can´t find anywhere else.
7.      The athmosphere is nice and magical. You are nor in a hurry when you walk down the stunning, colourful alleys. You just enjoy.
Tiina Stara

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Scanning Budapest Vajdahunyad Castle





1-Vajdahunyad Castle in Városliget park
2-Imitation of Gothic castle for the Millennium exhibition
3-Designed by Ignác Alpár  before 1896 and built, as we see it now, from 1904 to 1908
4-It combines all the principal architectural styles in Hungary and Transilvania
5-Városliget is a park place for people to relax from urban life. The buildings close to the Gothic castle are a Romanesque Abbey and Renaissance and Baroque Palaces. It gives a real History of Art lesson.
6-This castle recreation is similar to others well kept castles in Europe, also with its garden, stone bridge and water moat.
7-The castle area in Buda is without its old castle. This castle in Pest surrounded by green of vegetation and blue from water inspires to feel the Middle Age in Hungary.
Jordi Ribas

Scanning Budapest




1-Great Synagogue on Dohány street, PEST
2-Europe’s largest synagogue temple
3-Built from 1854 to 1859
4- Its art combines Romantic, Byzantine & Moorish style
5-Holy place for the Jewish community. It contains also a museum worth to see it
6-It reminds me partly from outside to the old mosque in Cordova (Spain). The towers are very special  with its domes
7-I felt sad visiting the museum and thinking that this wonderful temple was once crowded with people prying before the Second World War. These people suffered a lot and most of them were killed later in Nazi concentration camps. 
Jordi Ribas

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Look at the lids of sewage pipe in the street!






1. The lids of the sewage pipes in Budapest.
2. Wherever you look you will find beautiful details.
3. The lids have been designed hundreds of years.
4. They reflect their own time and can be different in different parts of the town.
5. You go on the lids without paying any attention, but they are often very decorative.
6. The lids in Budapest are both decorative and specially designed for Budapest.
7. You can find beautiful and special things just looking around you, also looking at the ground.

Anna-Maija Lyyra



Keleti pályaudvar- Eastern railwaystation in Budapest


1. Keleti pályadvar  - Eastern railwaystation is locatid in VIII district in Budapest.
2. On old railwaystation in the middle of the city which is still in use.
3. It was built 1881-1884 and renovated 1998.
4. The architectig style is neorenaissaince and the building was designed of Gyula Rochlitzin. 
5. This beautiful buiding with  ornate details is still today a railwaystation which a lot of people are passing trough every day.
6. It was a big surprise to found this building in the middle of the city center.
7. When you look around the station you can just imagine how people in the 19th century bought their tickets and boarded the steam engined train!

         


                                            

Anna-Maija Lyyra