European Bus Tour 1 Hungary (Part I)
Photo by Philip Galvin
In 2018, we took a bus tour starting from Rumania, visiting 9 countries as follows:
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- Macedonia
- Albania
- Montenegro
- Croatia
- Bosnia
- Serbia
- Hungary*
Hungary: Budapest
According to the guide, Budapest is comprised of two areas: Buda and Pesh. We began touring the Pesh area first.
Museum of Fine Arts
1. Heroes’ Square
At Heroes’ Square, the statues of the Seven chieftans of the Magyars, the tribes that founded the country, and other important Hungarian national leaders were prominent. They stood in front of the 36 metres tall column and is surruonded by a semi-circle of tall white pillars which reminded us of a smaller scale of the pillars of St. Peter’s in Rome.
2. Various Interesting Sights in Budapest
After crossing the bridge, we proceeded to go to the area of Buda.
Parliament of Hungry from the view from Buda.
A map of Buda area (you see the Buda Castle in the middle)
3. The Matthians Church Buda Castle (The Church of Our Lady of Buda Castle)
Our bus climbed up the Buda Castle hill and we reached the Matthians Church which was built by the first Hungarian king, St. Stephen. The church was used by Hungarian kings from 1015 as a christian church except during the Ottoman’s era which lasted over 150 years. In 1526, Turks occupied Buda, destroyed most of the churches in the Buda area, but left this church and used it as a mosque. We understand why - unlike other churches, we found this church to be very impressive and memorable because of the colourful tile roof and the presense of a castle nearby. It is too precious to be destroyed.
Buda Castle
Inside of the Church
Burial crypts of Bela III of Hungary ahd his wife Agnes of Antioch
Various Views from the Church Looking Down to thhe River
We were concerned about the smoke rising from one of the buildings close to Parliament.
Cont'd to Part II.
