Sunday, November 3, 2013

Visiting Budapest [Part 2/6]: Heroes Square, City Park and Zoo

Part two of our journey through Budapest, takes us to the City Park of Budapest, where there is lots to discover. On the entrance to the Park you can see the Heroes Square, and deeper in the Park there is the Vajdahunyad Castle. Then, on the west side of the Park you'll find the City Zoo, where we spent a couple of hours.

This Series includes:
Part One: Visiting Buda Castle and Fisherman's Bastion
Part Two: Visiting Heroes Square, City Park and the Zoo
Part Three: A Night in Budapest (1)
Part Four: A Night in Budapest (2) 
Part Five: Visiting Great Market Hall and roaming the city
Part Six: Visiting the Hungarian Parliament

 click on the images for a bigger view


The Vajdahunyad Castle is a castle in the City Park. It was built between 1896 and 1908, as part of the Millennial Exhibition which celebrated the 1000 years of Hungary. The castle represents in three dimensions the thousand year old history of Hungarian architecture, and therefore it is a display of different styles including Romanic, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque


Vajdahunyad Castle, thought by many the home of Count Dracula, was once a part of the Hungarian state (the Austro-Hungarian Empire), called the King of Castles. Thus it was chosen in 1896 to represent the best example of Hungarian Gothic. There is even a bust of the Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi, who played Dracula in the 1931 movie, but I didn't get a shot of it.




This next image shows me in front of the Statue of Anonymus, inside the Castle. He was the notary and chronicler of a Hungarian King, probably Béla III. Little is known about him. Anonymus is most famous for his work Gesta Hungarorum ("The Deeds of the Hungarians"), written in Latin around 1200. This work provides a detailed history of the arrival of the Hungarians to the Carpathian Basin- But since it's unknown to witch king he belonged, his true identity is still unknown.


The next statue we discovered was that of Grof Károlyi Sándor. He was a Hungarian politician and founder of the hospital of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.



The exact replica of the Portal of the Church of Jak shows the characteristic church gates of the 11th and 12th century, already blending in with the Gothic style where the portal was the main location for adding sculpted figures and images of the Bible. The Church of Jak village is located in western Hungary, near the Austrian border, and is in fact a huge basilica, which cannot be seen in the Vajdahunyad Castle where only the fascinating gate was copied rather than the whole building.


Upon exiting the Castle, the Park leads you to our next destination, the City Zoo.






Baby Kangaroos sleeping in the warm glow of the midday sun:








Hősök tere (meaning "Heroes' Square") is one of the major squares of Budapest. The central site of the hero's square, as well as a landmark of Budapest, is the Millennium Memorial (also known as Millennium Monument or Millenary Monument) with statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the 9th century and other outstanding figures of Hungarian history.



This was a rather large post with many images, but since I really have much to show, I have to post a lot. Hopefully you won't mind looking through them all. The next part of this series will focus on a magnificent night out in Budapest, when the city really comes to life!

38 comments:

  1. Hallo Mersad, wunderschöne Fotos!!! Ich komme aus Budapest, habe paar Geheimtipps in meinem Blog für Reisenden, lebe jetzt neben München...habe jetzt zufällig bei "digital.abgelichtet" deinen Blog gefunden. Jetzt werde ich ein bißchen bei dir umschauen. Wunderschöne Bilder hast du von meiner Heimatstadt gemach!!! Ahh, ja, englisch kann ich leider kaum. :-) Gruß

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    1. Es geht auch auf Deutsch. Danke für deine Komentare. Bin froh das Du zu mir gefunden hast!

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  2. the zoo, the zoo, I would love that zoo... the architecture is beyond amazing to me, and the statues are fantastic, so big so beautiful.. while reading the info on all these I was comparing in my mind, what was built in Europe during the time period of 1896 through 1908, Gothic and Big and in the USA wood and small, . truly a beautiful city that you visited.

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    1. It's a remarkable place with so many places to see and discover.

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  3. What remarkable architecture and wonderful sights. You have captured so much in these images.

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  4. What an incredible, beautiful city and you did have beautiful weather as well!! Superb captures, Mersed, they're the next best thing to being there myself!! Thank you for sharing! Hope you have a great week ahead!!

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    1. You too Sylvia. Thanks for stopping by.

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  5. we have an old saying here
    Red sky at night, sailors delight.
    Red sky in the morning, Sailors take warning.
    it is almost always true red in the morning means a storm is coming, and it did come

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    1. I really didn't know that, mostly because I have never seen a red sky in the morning. :) Now I have learned something.

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  6. Love these buildings! The architecture is very impressive! The fall colors are brilliant and the lighting is wonderful!

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  7. you were there at a gorgeous time of year! the trees and colors frame everything perfectly!

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  8. In love with that style of architecture -- and I appreciate the details you provided. So interesting to me, Mersad. Thank you.

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    1. The architecture amazed me too. Everywhere you look, there is something to see.

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  9. What a beautiful place. You have photographed it beautifully.

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  10. Those sitting statues are gigantic and inspiring.

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  11. wonderful pictures,.....know i want to visit budapest.

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  12. What a beautiful place! You have so many wonderful photos of the buildings and architecture! Great job, Mersad!!

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  13. Mersad thank you so much for your visit to see the ostrich, and the invite to visit your blog.
    What an interesting and educational post and spectacular photography of such an amazing place !!
    I am now one of your followers.

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    1. Thanks for checking back! Love your blog.

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  14. Enjoyed the photos very much. This city has never been on my 'to go' list but maybe it should be. Ciao

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  15. HI Mersad I Love all the animals and the architecture is amazing. the autumn colours are magnificent.

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  16. Beautiful, beautiful photos. The only place that I also visited when I was in Budapest is Heroes Square. I found that very hard to photograph well, because the thin monument was so high. You did better than I did.

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    1. It was quite difficult, I agree. And the day we visited a big manifestation was being held, so i couldn't even properly back up to get the whole thing!

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  17. I'm really in awe of your photography, Mersad. Once again, you've captured every image perfectly. Really beautiful work.

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  18. Beautiful photos!
    Greetings, RW & SK

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  19. thanks for this great serie Mersad. I like especially photo number two with those remarkably reddish leaves! and I like the views of the city in this time of year, with the beatiful autumn colours!
    greetings from Belgium

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    1. The leaves were even better in person. Very bright and red.

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  20. Budapest looks a fabulous place. The buildings are simply amazing. I am reminded (by photographs 2 and 3) of a quote I read: 'Why struggle to capture the whole building when half the scene is just as beautiful'. You certainly have the knack where perspective is concerned.

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    1. I like to live in the close-up sometimes. Especially when not able to get the whole thing.

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  21. I love the ornateness of the castle and you captured the leaves on the front so beautifully.

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  22. Extraordinary photos, Mersad. I do hope I have an opportunity someday to visit some of the beautiful places I've seen on your blog.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Kathy, good to read from you again!

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