It seems that each day we walk around Budapest we discover something unexpected. In my research I had seen an attraction called Liberty Square that I wanted to check out. As we approached the square we ran across this water feature, Interaktiv Szokokut.
If you walk near the water spouts, they will turn off based on your presence, hence the “interactive” part. Kim was happy to provide a case study!
While this was a cool fountain, the memorial behind it, along with the controversy it has produced, was quite unexpected and interesting. This is the “Memorial for Victims of the German Occupation”, erected in 2014. According to the infuriated locals, the Prime Minister had this constructed in the middle of the night, with no prior warning.
Right in front of this memorial is the “Citizen’s Holocaust Memorial”, with letters, proclamations, plenty of rocks with messages, and other reminders of the Holocaust. Many of these messages proclaim the governments memorial an outright lie or at the very least a distortion of the truth about the Holocaust. Jewish community organizations are upset that the memorial seems to imply Hungarians were not complicit in the atrocities against the Jews, when Hungary was an ally of Germany from the very start, and Hungary was one of the first countries to pass anti-Jewish laws as far back as 1938. It was really striking to see these two memorials next to each other.
Also in Liberty Square, this is the equally controversial Soviet War Memorial, honoring the Soviets who died during the 1945 liberation of Budapest from the Nazis. The controversy is that after that liberation, the Soviets occupied Hungary for 45 years, and according to historians the Soviets were worse than the Nazis! With the sentiments in Hungary, I wouldn’t be surprised if this memorial is removed in the near future.
This is a closeup of the base of the memorial.
A short distance away, I was surprised to find a statue of George H.W. Bush! The Hungarians credit Bush with pushing for freedom for most of his political career.
Even more impressive to me was this statue of Ronald Reagan, a short distance away from George. Reagan was instrumental in the the destruction of the USSR, as well as the Iron Curtain, so he is very deserving of receiving this honor from Hungary! He’s also a personal hero of mine well before I was even able to vote! Super stoked to get a photo with his oversized statue!
After my brush with a very tall Ronald Reagan, we made our way to the Danube to see the “Shoes on the Danube Bank”.
These iron shoes are in memory of the 3,500 people, 800 of them Jews, who were murdered by the Arrow Cross, the Hungarian arm of the Nazis, in the last months of WWII. The Arrow Cross would force their victims to remove their shoes (because of their value) before they shot them and let their bodies fall into the river, where they would float away. Fricking evil bastards!
Don’t be surprised to see a huge crowd here, despite my photos appearing otherwise.
There was one recent addition, the shoes of Sivan Shahrabani, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists on Oct 7, 2023. I remain appalled at the anti-Israel rallies in the US! Very embarrassing!
After several days walking by it and taking pictures of it, we finally made our way into Saint Stephen’s Basilica. This is definitely one of the more beautiful churches we have been in, filled with vibrant colors and lots of colorful marble.
Everything about this place is gorgeous. Makes me almost wish I was religious and could appreciate it from that perspective….almost.
The most unusual site in the basilica is the “Holy Right Hand”, said to be the mummified right hand of King Stephen, dating from 1083. Saint Stephen, the former King, is credited with being the founder of modern Hungary.
The hand is encased in this ornate gold “reliquary” (you learn a new word everyday). Every year on August 20th, they take his hand out for a parade in the city. High Five for everybody!
Here is a close-up of the holy hand. Ok, I take back what I said about “almost” wanting to be religious. For every cool thing, there seems to be something completely bizarre to counter it! This was a complete WTF? moment! The story of how often the hand changed hands (see what I did there?) is just as bizarre!
After visiting the interior of the church we took the elevator up to the Panorama. The Skybar of our hotel can be seen in the below photo…look for the yellow seat cushions and pillows in the foreground.
There are excellent views from every part of the Panorama!
Here is our travel group (somebody has to be the photographer)!
Just inside the Panorama you can see the structure holding up the high dome of the Basilica. In the foreground is the roof of the church’s interior dome over the altar. I had no idea there was that much of a gap between the interior and exterior of the church domes. Is this the norm?
In the basilica’s treasury is a replica of the Holy Crown of Hungary. The original, stored in the Parliament building, was the coronation crown for the Kingdom of Hungary, with more than 50 kings crowned with it. The crown is said to date from the 1070’s, when the Byzantine’s created it in Constantinople. That’s fricking old!
The cross on the top of the crown is bent to one side. Apparently, back when Turkish invaders stormed Budapest, the royal treasures were stuffed into a chest. When they reached the city gates, they were all killed, and the Hungarians retrieved their treasure. When they opened the chest, they discovered the cross was bent when the Turks slammed the lid of the chest shut. Rather than repair the damage, the king declared “Let this cross remind Hungarians to give thanks for our miraculous deliverance”.
It was likely just dropped by some clumsy oaf since it weighs so damn much, but the Turk story makes better press!
Our friends Casey and Terri arrived that afternoon, so we went for a short stroll near the hotel. Of course we ran across our favorite Policeman again.
We were fortunate that it was a Friday night, as they have concerts every Friday in Saint Stephen’s Basilica.
The acoustics of the organ, along with the trumpet, were amazing! Make sure you are here on a Friday!
This is a shot of the beautiful organ. Am I using that word “beautiful” too much? It’s hard not to! Sue me!
We ended the night on the top of the hotel Skybar with a Tokaj sweet wine with Casey and Terri, who took this shot of a very happy Chris.
Coming up next, we have our last day in Budapest with a visit to the Central Market, the Pauline Cave Church, the Liberty Statue, and the Elisabeth Bridge.
