Budapest - The Parliament Building

Budapest has a beautiful Parliament Building.  It was built in the late 1800s by a student of James Wyatt, who designed the London Parliament Building and Big Ben. 

It is an absolutely stunning building, especially when seen from the Danube. 

 Evidently, when the communists were here, a large red star was added to the top of the domed spire.  It is gone now, and the parliament has been scrubbed clean and is looking great. 

It took us 2 tries to get in for a tour of the Parliament building.  The first day, we showed up at 10 am when it opens, and discovered that all the allotted tickets for that day were gone. 








The second try, we showed up at 8am, when the ticket office is supposed to open, but then had to wait until 9am to get inside.

 To our delight, we were suddenly ushered into the building.  For some reason, no ticket was needed that morning.

 The interior is a jewelbox of gold, and jeweltone colors.  A magnificent, optimistic building constructed for a country which had just emerged from under the rule of the Hapsburg dynasty.

 Indeed, they have even now just emerged from under the totalitarian control of another foreign power, the Soviet Union.  They now have their own destiny to forge, and let's hope great things come from this beautiful building.

 We didn't get to see a lot of it, but we did get the main hall and the interior of the massive dome, which contains the crown of King Stephen I, who created the Christian kingdom of Hungary. 

 The crown has an interesting modern history, as it was stolen by the Nazis, retrieved by the Americans, and stored in the vaults of Fort Knox for a time.  When the Soviet Union began to relax their control over Hungary, it was returned.








 Somehow over the years, the cross on the top of the crown became bent.  It is not known when this occured, but in some ways this has become symbolic of the Hungarian people - Bent, but not Broken.


 






It's a bit of a challenge to get into the Parliament building, and tours are sporatic, and a bit unpredictable, but it is well worth the time to try and get in.