18 June 2019, Tuesday
Then to Gellért Hill. Gellért Hill was named after Saint Gerard, the first Hungarian bishop and the master of the first Hungarian king, St Stephen. There is an impressive statue of St Gellért (also known as Liberty Statue) here with waterfalls underneath. St Gellért was an Italian missionary who was to convert the native Hungarians into Christians. However, in the 10th – 11th century there were many Hungarians who resisted the new faith. St Gellert was killed by pagan Hungarians: the bishop was hurled to his death in a spiked barrel in 1046 from the Gellért Hill (supposedly, the monument marks the spots of the brutal execution).
On the top of Gellért Hill lies a citadella(citadel or fortress). The fortress was built in 1851 by Julius Jacob Von Haynau, a commander of the Austrian Empire after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The fortress is a U-shaped structure built around a central courtyard. It was actually built by Hungarian forced labourers, and it was finished in 1854.
In June 1854 Austrian troops settled in the citadel. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the establishment of Austria-Hungary, the Hungarians demanded the destruction of the Citadel, but the garrison troops left only in 1897, when the main gate was symbolically damaged. It was not until late 1899 when the city took possession of the Citadel. A few months later, in 1900, the walls were demolished. In the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Soviet troops occupied the citadel and fired down into the city during the assault that overthrew the Hungarian government.
We also saw a cave church here. The cave church is part of a network of caves within Gellért Hill. The cave is also referred to as "Saint Ivan's Cave", regarding a hermit who lived there and is believed to have used the natural thermal water of a muddy lake next to the cave to heal the sick. It is likely that this same water fed the pools of the old Sáros fürdő("Muddy Baths"), now called Gellert Baths.
In the 19th century the cave was inhabited by a poor family who built a small house of sun dried bricks in the great opening. The first modern entrance for the caves was constructed in the 1920s by a group of Pauline monks who had been inspired by similar rock constructions during a pilgrimage in Lourdes, France. After its consecration in 1926, it served as a chapel and monastery until 1951. During this time, it also served as a field hospital for the army of Nazi Germany during WW II.
In 1945, the Soviet Red Army captured Budapest. For six years, the cave continued its religious functions, but in 1951, the State Protection Authority raided the chapel as part of increasing action against the Catholic Church. As a result of the raid, the cave was sealed, the monastery's superior was condemned to death, and the remaining brothers were imprisoned for upwards of ten years.
After the retreat of Russia from Budapest, the chapel reopened on 27 August 1989 with the destruction of the thick concrete wall that had sealed the cave. By 1992, the Chapel had been restored and the Pauline Order had returned to the cave. Today, the monks continue to perform religious functions within. Unfortunately it was already closed when we got there so we never got to see inside the cave church. What a pity. The terrace in front of the entrance is proudly guarded by the statue of Saint Stephen standing beside his horse.
On our wanderings in Budapest we also went on 3 bridges. The first is the Chain Bridge built in the 18th century. The Chain Bridge was the first permanent stone-bridge connecting Pest and Buda. It is one of the symbolic buildings of Budapest, the most widely known bridge of the Hungarian capital. The second is the Elizabeth bridge, also known as the White Bridge. It is the third newest bridge in Budapest, connecting Buda and Pest across the River Danube. The third is Liberty Bridge or Freedom Bridge or Green Bridge which also connects Buda and Pest across the river Danube. It was originally named the Franz Joseph Bridge.
And then we were done with Budapest! I must say it’s a lovely and beautiful city, with nice enough people and a good public transport system, but it’s quite an expensive city. I really enjoyed the scenery here. The scenery of the Parliament building in front of the Danube river especially tugged at my heart strings, it looked like a picture in a postcard that was once a dream but is now a reality.
As we were still full from lunch, we didn’t buy anything for dinner, but just some stuff for tomorrow in case we get hungry on the bus.
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