Sunday"s Sights

The Castle of Buda as seen from the Chain Bridge
Notice the 49-foot wingspan of the bird sculpture to the right in this photo?
More about that bird in a moment...

My husband Tim and I crammed a lot of sightseeing into our Sunday since we knew it was the only day Tim would have at his leisure before his teaching assignment at the International Police Academy began on Monday.

A closer view of the Royal Castle of Buda

Therefore, we made it a point to visit the Royal Castle which impressively sits at the top of Buda.  King Béla IV built a fortress here, surrounding it with thick walls, in 1243. None of that original structure remains, but others liked his fort's strategic location so much that they built upon it and added on to it and added on to that and added on to that. (See this link for a timeline of the castle's history.)

Tim and I faced the sun and the Castle of Buda in this photo.

Boy, have they added on to it!  From a royal residence to a Catholic convent to a university and back to a royal residence again until its current use as the site for several cultural institutions, the Royal Castle has endured it all, even invasion from the Turks!

Tim in the courtyard of the Royal Castle

The castle has been home to kings and queens, occupiers like the Turks in the 16th century and rulers like the Habsburg royalty.  Today the Royal Palace is the home of the Hungarian National Art Gallery, the Budapest History Museum and the National Széchenyi Library which contains a copy of everything published in Hungary or in the Hungarian language.  

National Széchenyi Library

In addition, it is here that the Office of the President of the Republic of Hungary is found.

The changing of the guard in front of the Office of the President

As for the bird, it is called the Turul of Hungary. People often think it is the replica of an eagle, but they are mistaken.

This bird sculpture is the Turul of Hungary

The turul is the Hungarian mythical bird which plays a prominent role in the Magyar creation story.  

The Funicular is a cog railway to the top of the Buda Castle District.

According to legend, the turul appeared to Emese and told her that she was pregnant with a great leader of the nation, Almos. Almos was born and the rest is Hungarian history!

Difficult to take a photo of this bird when he is facing east over a sharp drop off!

Tim and I chose to visit the Budapest History Museum whose four floors cover the last 2000 of Hungarian history.  Need I say that this took up most of our afternoon in a very interesting way!

But before we paid our 1400 florints to enter the museum, we paid our respects to the Matthias Fountain. Our winter visit meant we couldn't see the fountain in all its glory of gushing water, but it was impressive, nevertheless.

Matthias Fountain

This fountain portrays a young King Matthias dressed in hunting garb, with the beautiful Helen below.  The inspiration for the fountain’s design is a romantic ballad by the beloved Hungarian poet, Mihály Vörösmarty.

The Royal Castle

As the sun descended behind the Royal Castle, Tim and I bid the city of Buda goodbye. We had a boat to catch--a river boat! Our reservations were for a sunset river cruise on the Danube. We'll take you along for the ride in my next post.