Heroes Square

Hey everyone,

Sorry I'm so disorganized, I keep going through my camera or my archives and realizing all the cool stuff I haven't posted.  In particular, I realized that I never posted these pictures of Heroes Square, one of the cooler public monuments in Budapest (as you guys know, I'm a sucker for statues:

Here's the wide shot.  As you can see, it's a monument of pretty impressive scale:

The centerpiece is the angel Gabriel, who according to legend presented the crown Saint Istvan, first King of Hungary, in a dream:

Beneath Gabriel are the Magyars, the tribe the first settled in Hungary in 896, led by their chief, Arpad

(the name Arpad is probably not familiar to you, but it was to me before I ever knew who he was--basically every statue in the square has half a dozen streets, buildings, squares or bridges named after them somewhere in the city)

On either side are statues of famous Hungarians.  I think my favorites are the ones on the far right:

Originally, the last five of these statues depicted the Hapsburg Monarchs (Leopold, Franz Joszeph), as Hungary was still under their rule when the Square was constructed.  However, the statues were damaged during the War and were later replaced--but not by statues of the Hapsburgs, instead by more contemporary figures such as Imre Thokoly, Francis Rakczi, and Kossuth Lajos--who are hailed as heroes in Hungary for their roles in uprisings against the Hapsburgs XD

Finally, flanking the square are two very important buildings.  First, the Museum of Fine Arts (containing a fantastic collection of works by the Old Masters--the pieces by Hungarian artists, however, are reserved for the Hungarian National Gallery up on Castle Hill):

 Then, on the other side, the Palace of Art, housing more contemporary art.  Built many years after the Museum of Fine arts, I choose to imagine they told the architect something like, "ok, we want it to look very similar to the Museum, but cooler and with more colors.  That'll show 'em"

Anyways, there we have it, Heroes Square.  Definitely not to be missed if you ever visit Budapest.  It's a pity I didn't have an opportunity to take pictures at night (I don't usually take my camera when I got out for the night), as the Square is even more fantastic at night when the statues are lit by floodlights.  Guess you'll just have to come and see for yourself

Noah out