City Profile: Budapest
By Rebecca Quin
Monday 2nd November 2009
Monday 2nd November 2009
Both geographically and culturally, Budapest is the angry, rapid-beating heart of Hungary; a country which has for all intents and purposes embraced its old enemy capitalism. Huge, dirty and busy it has all the Orientalist qualities of an Asian city, being at once familiar and exotic, with an intriguing historical background continuously painted over with neon lights, the ubiquitous Irish pub and leagues of polyester tourists.
The ancient artery of central Europe, the Danube, splits the city into its original two halves Buda and Pest. On the west bank, the older Buda seems to peer disapprovingly at the new generation Pest. United under the Hapsburg Empire in 1872, the sides are quite distinct. Buda, with its cobblestone castle district, winding streets, hilltop citadel and crumbling stairways rises above the river in a grimly determined show of historical self-preservation. Repeatedly attacked, most recently during the Second World War and again in the 1956 uprising, the Hungarian government has made much effort to reconstruct the area, giving the Palace and the Fisherman’s Bastion (Halászbástya) in particular a pearly-white sheen that evokes the short stories of Angela Carter. The ascent to the bastion is best undertaken by foot with a pick and mix of architectural styles on display and looking back, a view of Pest that is slowly undressed by altitude. Standing in one of the Bastion’s white towers, most likely gasping for breath, the whole of Budapest, sliced by the immense Danube, will show itself unabashed.
Away from the edge of the hill, the neo-gothic Matthias’ Church (Mátyás templom) with its multi-coloured roof provides, as Churches usually do, a sombre and morbid antidote to the beauty of the Bastion. One of the most popular sites in Budapest, it was at one time a mosque during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. Each Sunday hosts a decadent High Mass with a full orchestra and choir, and lots of money in the offertory so be prepared. The entry to the crypt and treasury, rather symbolically, lies to the right of the altar.
Twisting and squirming its way beneath the district, the Castle labyrinth has been recently opened to the public and provides cool and tranquil relief from the heat and people above. The natural tunnels have been exploited somewhat bizarrely, with artificial fossils presenting the imprint of a Nike trainer or a mobile phone and a giant sunken Aztec head, as opposed to geological or historical information. A surprising feature is the wine fountain, from which wine is supposed to flow freely from the mountain. Knowing the reason as to why there is a fountain in the middle of a cave is neither here nor there, as the wine is both free and drinkable (ignore the signs).
To the east, Pest, largely constructed in the 19th century, has grown and spread with continuous building since the fall of the Soviet Union. Wide boulevards frame the crowded city centre, with pretty neo-renaissance architecture frequently interrupted by flat, imposing structures like black ink spots on a copied Renoir. Budapest’s communist past still seeps through the cosmopolitan facade. Notably Statue Park, some way out from the city centre, is an eerie collection of communist statuary that formerly stood watching the city’s inhabitants. The park is evocative of a giant chessboard, with a strange vaudeville atmosphere that is at once oppressive and liberating.
At the end of the avenue to the northeast stands Heroes’ Square, an ostentatious and breathtaking example of Hapsburg imagination, later manipulated by Soviet Leaders as a powerful auditorium. It feels much like a giant square roundabout, a flattened island, and recalls black and white recordings of speeches during the Second World War and the Cold War. Hitler, Stalin and Truman all merge into one frightening memory of grotesque human capacity. Nowadays, there are normally only three other people on the square, so it’s possible, and more than recommended, to waltz across the flat marble with an inevitably reluctant travel buddy.
Another morbid antidote, St Stephens Basilica (Sz. István Bazilika), bombed during the war, has a neo-Renaissance exterior surrounding an elaborately-wrought interior, particularly popular with tourists. St Stephen’s mummified right hand is kept in a box that can be lit up for 100 forints in a strangely tacky and surely blasphemous display of what is one of the city’s most revered relics. Like most city churches, the building is an impressive exhibit of engineering and representative of the pervasive significance of Christianity in the West; 20% of the Hungarian population are Calvinist. Before neck ache sets in, head back to the river to see the neo-Gothic parliament, based on the Houses in Westminster but built with a darker coloured stone and a superfluous number of domes.
The stretched expanse of the city means that the discovery of local culture, usually hidden away in nooks and crannies at the end of winding pathways, is difficult to achieve. The impact of tourism, in a familiar cliché, has had a detrimental impact on a cultural identity already withered and worn by war and communist occupation. Family run kifőzés provide traditional Hungarian fare including the national dish bográcsgulyás (goulash) and one of the many cafes is well worth visiting for the túrós rétes, a huge pastry filled with cottage cheese. Otherwise it is difficult to find an establishment that hasn’t been seduced by tourism; one of the best, and most ridiculous, is the medieval-themed bar Lancelot close to the Parliament building. In the summer, Peötlfi híd (Green Park) has concerts and DJs every night and the trendy VI district is where the Hungarian elite are available for possible interrogation.
Budapest is a city on a grand scale, amassing Haussmann style boulevards, castles, skyscrapers, bridges, capitalism, communism, left and right. It has confessed and subsequently exploited its secrets; any attempt at exploration becomes a guided tour of the purpose-built constructions, restaurants, shops and tourist operators. Nevertheless, whilst Budapest is aware of its beauty, that beauty inexorably exists and is visible. The city can be blunt and sometimes frightening, but it is above all else fascinating, and isn’t fascination the aim of travel after all?
The ancient artery of central Europe, the Danube, splits the city into its original two halves Buda and Pest. On the west bank, the older Buda seems to peer disapprovingly at the new generation Pest. United under the Hapsburg Empire in 1872, the sides are quite distinct. Buda, with its cobblestone castle district, winding streets, hilltop citadel and crumbling stairways rises above the river in a grimly determined show of historical self-preservation. Repeatedly attacked, most recently during the Second World War and again in the 1956 uprising, the Hungarian government has made much effort to reconstruct the area, giving the Palace and the Fisherman’s Bastion (Halászbástya) in particular a pearly-white sheen that evokes the short stories of Angela Carter. The ascent to the bastion is best undertaken by foot with a pick and mix of architectural styles on display and looking back, a view of Pest that is slowly undressed by altitude. Standing in one of the Bastion’s white towers, most likely gasping for breath, the whole of Budapest, sliced by the immense Danube, will show itself unabashed.
Away from the edge of the hill, the neo-gothic Matthias’ Church (Mátyás templom) with its multi-coloured roof provides, as Churches usually do, a sombre and morbid antidote to the beauty of the Bastion. One of the most popular sites in Budapest, it was at one time a mosque during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. Each Sunday hosts a decadent High Mass with a full orchestra and choir, and lots of money in the offertory so be prepared. The entry to the crypt and treasury, rather symbolically, lies to the right of the altar.
Twisting and squirming its way beneath the district, the Castle labyrinth has been recently opened to the public and provides cool and tranquil relief from the heat and people above. The natural tunnels have been exploited somewhat bizarrely, with artificial fossils presenting the imprint of a Nike trainer or a mobile phone and a giant sunken Aztec head, as opposed to geological or historical information. A surprising feature is the wine fountain, from which wine is supposed to flow freely from the mountain. Knowing the reason as to why there is a fountain in the middle of a cave is neither here nor there, as the wine is both free and drinkable (ignore the signs).
To the east, Pest, largely constructed in the 19th century, has grown and spread with continuous building since the fall of the Soviet Union. Wide boulevards frame the crowded city centre, with pretty neo-renaissance architecture frequently interrupted by flat, imposing structures like black ink spots on a copied Renoir. Budapest’s communist past still seeps through the cosmopolitan facade. Notably Statue Park, some way out from the city centre, is an eerie collection of communist statuary that formerly stood watching the city’s inhabitants. The park is evocative of a giant chessboard, with a strange vaudeville atmosphere that is at once oppressive and liberating.
At the end of the avenue to the northeast stands Heroes’ Square, an ostentatious and breathtaking example of Hapsburg imagination, later manipulated by Soviet Leaders as a powerful auditorium. It feels much like a giant square roundabout, a flattened island, and recalls black and white recordings of speeches during the Second World War and the Cold War. Hitler, Stalin and Truman all merge into one frightening memory of grotesque human capacity. Nowadays, there are normally only three other people on the square, so it’s possible, and more than recommended, to waltz across the flat marble with an inevitably reluctant travel buddy.
Another morbid antidote, St Stephens Basilica (Sz. István Bazilika), bombed during the war, has a neo-Renaissance exterior surrounding an elaborately-wrought interior, particularly popular with tourists. St Stephen’s mummified right hand is kept in a box that can be lit up for 100 forints in a strangely tacky and surely blasphemous display of what is one of the city’s most revered relics. Like most city churches, the building is an impressive exhibit of engineering and representative of the pervasive significance of Christianity in the West; 20% of the Hungarian population are Calvinist. Before neck ache sets in, head back to the river to see the neo-Gothic parliament, based on the Houses in Westminster but built with a darker coloured stone and a superfluous number of domes.
The stretched expanse of the city means that the discovery of local culture, usually hidden away in nooks and crannies at the end of winding pathways, is difficult to achieve. The impact of tourism, in a familiar cliché, has had a detrimental impact on a cultural identity already withered and worn by war and communist occupation. Family run kifőzés provide traditional Hungarian fare including the national dish bográcsgulyás (goulash) and one of the many cafes is well worth visiting for the túrós rétes, a huge pastry filled with cottage cheese. Otherwise it is difficult to find an establishment that hasn’t been seduced by tourism; one of the best, and most ridiculous, is the medieval-themed bar Lancelot close to the Parliament building. In the summer, Peötlfi híd (Green Park) has concerts and DJs every night and the trendy VI district is where the Hungarian elite are available for possible interrogation.
Budapest is a city on a grand scale, amassing Haussmann style boulevards, castles, skyscrapers, bridges, capitalism, communism, left and right. It has confessed and subsequently exploited its secrets; any attempt at exploration becomes a guided tour of the purpose-built constructions, restaurants, shops and tourist operators. Nevertheless, whilst Budapest is aware of its beauty, that beauty inexorably exists and is visible. The city can be blunt and sometimes frightening, but it is above all else fascinating, and isn’t fascination the aim of travel after all?