Situated at the entrance to the City park and at the end of Andrassy Avenue, Budapest’s Heroes’ Square stands in honour of the great leaders in Hungary’s history.
Flanked by the Palace of Fine Arts and the Palace of Applied Arts The Heroes’ square is one of the most visited sights of the Hungarian capital and represents at the end one of the most important streets of Budapest, a World Heritage site.
In the centre of the square is the Millennium Monument. The millenial monument was built in 1896 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the arrival of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin. The monument consists of two semi-circles on the top of which the symbols of War and Peace, Work and Wellfare, Knowledge and Glory can be seen.
Around the base of the monument are a number of equestrian statues honoring Arpad and the seven chieftains of the Hungarian tribe, who settled their people in the area now known as Hungary.
Soaring above the monument stands the Millennial Comumn.
Standing 118-feet-tall and topped with a statue of the Archangel Gabriel, meant to be a symbol of the Roman Catholic Church.
In front of the Column is the Monument of National Heroes, also known as The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, a tribute to Hungary’s heroes of war.
At the two sides the representative buildings of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Gallery of Art both worth a visit. Since the last couple of years, the two museums have been competing for the attention of visitors with high standard temporary exhibitions, such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt and the collections of Spanish and French paintings.
Many heated political rallies continue to take place at this popular location, also Pope John Paul II preached here.
Sources: www.budapestinfo.org and www.aviewoncities.com www.schefferj.ps.hu