Budapest is really two cities separated by the river Danube: Buda and Pest. Buda is the welhier and more posh part of town and the one to go to if you want to see the Royal Palace, old churches and fancy mansions hidden in its hills. Buda is also a place for fine entertainment and chic art galleries. Located on a flat land, younger and funner Pest is a heart of the city’s nightlife, sporting events, moderate restaurants, clubs and bars.
Buda Sights:
Royal Palace:
The former Royal Palace has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. What you see today is a postwar reconstruction from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The first royal residence here was established by King Bela IV after the 1241 Mongol invasion but it was under the reign of King Matyas (1458-90) that the Royal Palace reached its apogee. Matyas' Renaissance-style palace had hot and cold running water and fountains that sometimes spouted wine. This palace was badly damaged during the Turkish siege of 1541 and the area was completely laid waste when recaptured from the Turks in 1686. Empress Maria Theresa caused a new 203-room palace to be built in the late eighteenth century. This was badly damaged in the 1848-49 War of Independence, then reconstructed once more and destroyed again at the end of World War II. That battering revealed Gothic and Renaissance foundations, which have been included in the post-war reconstruction. Visitors are thus greeted by a melange of architectural styles, including baroque and Gothic elements. The Palace now houses a complex of museums, including the Budapest History Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery and the National Szechenyi Library.
Turul Statue
Wings outstretched and with a sword grasped in fierce talons, Gyula Donath's giant bronze eagle (1905), visible from across the Danube, shrieks at tourists getting off the nearby Sikló. The best view is from the steps leading down to the Palace. This mythical protector of the Hungarian nation raped the grandmother of Arpad, legendary conqueror of the Carpathian Basin, and sired the first dynasty of Hungarian kings. Later he flew with the invading tribes, carrying the sword of Attila the Hun.
Funicular
Open 7.30am-10pm daily. Closed every other Monday, 7.30am-3pm. Tickets: Ft200
Budapest's funicular (sikló) crawls up the side of Castle Hill in a minute or two. The panorama of Pest unfolds as you ascend.
Matyas templom
Open 7am-7pm daily. Tickets: Ft150
Matyas templom takes its name from the great Hungarian King Matyas the Just . Parts of its structure date from the thirteenth century, but much of it was rebuilt in the nineteenth century. When Turks ruled Hungary the church was converted into a mosque.
Pest Sights:
Inner City Parish Church
Open 9am-12.30pm, 6-7pm, Mon-Sat; 6.30-7.30am, 6-7pm, Sun; Latin mass 10am Sun.
Founded in 1046 as the burial site of the martyred St Gellert, this is Pest's oldest building, although little of its original structure remains. It's an extraordinary mixture of styles: Gothic, Islamic, baroque and neo-classical.
Parizsi udvar
Henrik Schmahl's Parizsi udvar was completed in 1913 and still functions as a shopping arcade today. Outraged critics charged the arcade with 'lacking good taste and discretion'. Classical-style mosaics with gorgons' heads and theatrical masks smother the porch, juxtaposed with Islamic geometric motifs. This curious eclecticism continues inside the arcade with its intricate detailing and arched glass ceiling by Miksa Roth.
Serbian Orthodox Church
Open for High Mass only 10.30am Sun. Service 60-90 minutes.
Constructed to serve the Serbian craftsmen and merchants who lived in this waterside district, it still has a congregation of their descendants, plus refugees from the recent war. The church is only open for mass on Sundays.
