Budapest Art & Culture Budapest Postcard Superstar
Budapest Postcard Superstar
Halászbástya (Fisherman’s Bastion) was built between 1895 and 1902 in a neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style and was designed by Frigyes Schulek for the celebration of the thousand year anniversary of the settlement of the Hungarians. The architect wanted to frame the tower of Mátyás Templom (Matthias Church) with the smaller tower of the bastion in order to express that the ancestors lived in these strange-shaped tents.
The seven towers of the Bastion represent the seven Hungarian tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in 896. Local legend states that the Bastion takes its name from the guild of fishermen that was responsible for defending this stretch of the city walls, and the old fish market also sat at this location during medieval times.
Fisherman’s Bastion, a Budapest postcard superstar, serves as a decorative terrace with a breathtaking view over the Danube. You can see (from left to right): Margitsziget (Margaret Island) and Margit híd (Margaret Bridge), Parlament (Parliament), Szent István Bazilika (St. Stephen's Basilica), Lánchíd (Chain Bridge), Magyar Tudományos Akadémia (Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace, Vigadó Concert Hall, Belvárosi Plébániatemplom (Inner City Parish Church), Erzsébet híd (Elizabeth Bridge) and Szabadság híd (Liberty Bridge).
How to get there:
By bus No. 16 from Deák tér, or by bus No. 10 from Széll Kálmán tér to Castle Hill, or by car to Dísz tér and then on foot. If you need more adventure just take the Funicular (Sikló) which links Clark Ádám tér and Chain Bridge (Lánchíd) at river level to Buda Castle above.
