| Budapest tour: the House of Hungarian Parliament |
| Sunday, 25 July 2010 19:52 |
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During your European vacation, you can visit Hungary and Budapest as well. If yes, please, do not forget to visit the House of Hungarian Parliament. Over the past thousand years the Hungarian diet has held its sessions from Sopron to Szabolcs, from Besztercebánya to Szeged, from Nagyszombat to Rákos field, and since the 18th century primarily in Pozsony, today known as Bratislava. In July 1843, the reform opposition tabled an old proposal that the legislature should be moved to the new capital, Pest-Buda. Since the time of St. Stephen, Hungary's legendary founder, the greatest turn of the wheel in Hungarian history occurred in Vörösmarty's generation – the Age of Reform and the Revolution of 1848 that followed. Spurred by economic need, social unrest and the flowering of culture, the hundredthousands of privileged in society and the millions in the lower classes coalesced into a historical community, the Hungarian nation. And this nation, now being consciously formed by the great men of the age – István Széchenyi, Miklós Wesselényi, Ferenc Deák, Lajos Kossuth, Ferenc Kölcsey, Sándor Petőfi –, was very much in need of a physical home. As a counterweight to the royal palace rising high on Buda Hill, the Pest side of the Danube was chosen to symbolize that Hungary's destiny lay with popular democracy and not with royal whim. The building has 27 gates, 29 interior staircases and 13 personal and service elevators. Around 50 five story apartment buildings could fit into the Parliament which gives the vistor a notion of its size. Aesthetically the main facade faces the Danube, but the offical main entrances lies on Kossuth square. The building with its symmetrical structure conforms to the functions of a bicameral parliament. Just like the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., the northern and southern wings of the building each serves one house of the legislature. They are connected by an enormous dome hall, which was once the site of unified sessions. Since the end of World War II the building has also been the host of the executive branch. The northern wing houses the offices of the Prime Minister, while the southern wing contains those of the Pesident of the Republic. And in the corner rooms of the northern wing the Speaker of the Parliament has his offices. Also, you can visit the House of Hungarian Parliament travelling with our escorted European tour Prague Vienna Budapest Bratislava.
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| Last Updated on Monday, 26 July 2010 13:37 |
