Beautiful Planet Series - Hungary
budapest was originally two cities built on either side of the danube buddha and pest and were officially merged in 1873 today it's regarded as one metropolis but the two districts are very distinct from one another with many contrasting features and unique attractions among the hills of the west bank is the old and charming buddha district which is characterized by its old city features colorful townhouses and the famous castle hill to the east is the pest district budapest's commercial core characterized by bustling shopping streets leafy boulevards and the well-known hero square the most important part of buda is the area called castle hill rising 48 meters above the danube the castle hill or varghi nevertheless dominates the city this hill is the place where budapest was founded it's a small densely built rock with the buda castle as the most prominent building located at the top of castle hill is the picturesque royal palace which was first inhabited by king baylor in the 13th century who after the mongol invasion turned it into a fortified stronghold the castle has a mixture of architectural styles ranging from gothic to baroque today it's the country's most important cultural center housing numerous museums and can't be missed during a stay in hungary from whatever direction you reach the castle district you cross the ramparts which completely encircle castle hill whole area within the rampart is protected as an ancient monument the lines of the streets and the foundations and architectural remains of the buildings retain the atmosphere and memories of the medieval and 18th and 19th century capital this medieval old town area is totally pedestrianized and the cobblestone streets colorful houses gas lamps and monuments make for a very romantic setting it's within the castle district the narrow houses have many decorated sedalias on the outside walls which allowed visitors to rest and shelter from rain or sun these sedilias are totally unique to buddha and are a lovely hungarian holiday attraction for the area a series of rooms from the medieval palace of the hungarian kings were unearthed and reconstructed during the post-war rebuilding of buda castle in 1958-1962 they're now part of the permanent exhibition of the budapest history museum in building e of buda castle the palace chapel in the western end of this wing had no facades only a door opening onto lyon's court the church was consecrated in 1769 the ground plan was drawn by nicolaus pakassi but the interior was designed by his follower franz anton hillebrandt the ground plan followed a typical violin form favored in the baroque church architecture of central europe at that time in 1957 the ruined church was totally destroyed and converted into exhibition spaces the rib vaulted gothic hall is one of the most important surviving examples of secular gothic architecture in central europe it was built by king sigismund luxembourg of hungary in the early 15th century the three interconnected barrel vaulted rooms belong to the oldest part of the palace stephen's castle the monumental main staircase of the wing with three flights led up from the first floor into an airy glass roofed hall the side walls of the hall were decorated in italian renaissance style on the ground floor colossal atlas statues stood beside the side pillars the marble statues were the works of janos vodrutz from 1897. during the post-war reconstruction the main staircase was radically modernized only the two colossal atlas statues survived undoubtedly the royal palace is one of the most impressive monuments in hungary and is a major landmark to visit on any luxury or budget budapest city break holidays um the castle district is one of the most romantic pedestrian sections in budapest a little medieval town with atmospheric streets picturesque houses gas lamps and beautiful monuments the main street of the district tarnock street ranges from disc square to today's district center mathias church colorful little houses border the square and the neighboring streets the winding streets and narrow houses date back to the middle ages occasionally decorated with valuable gothic window and door frames elegant baroque and louis xvi style palaces are relics of the restoration work after the turkish occupation fisherman's bastion was built in 1905 on the site of a former fish market the guild of fishermen were responsible for defending this part of the defensive wall in the middle ages the fisherman's bastion offers amazing panoramic views over the capital where a lot of major landmarks can be seen from margaret island and parliament square to saint stephen's basilica and the chain bridge the bastion itself is a unesco listed monument and spectacular landmark to view and visit during a tour of the city the main features of the neo-romanesque fisherman's bastion are the white stone walls its seven tyrants and the bronze statue of saint stephen hungary's first king fisherman's bastion is one of the main images people associate with budapest it's an attractive site to visit and must be made part of your imperial city tour it's situated on the eastern side of castle hill and can be reached from the center of the district fisherman's bastion received its name from the medieval rampart system which rose above the suburb named fisherman's town there also used to be a fish market behind the ramparts at the center of the castle district is trinity square and it's here where you'll discover the holy trinity column that serves as a lasting memorial to those who died in the devastating plague of 1691. at the foot of the column is king david praying for an end to the plague close to trinity square is matthias church formerly known as the buddha castle church of our lady and is the spiritual heart of hungary the church bears the name of its biggest mycenae's king king mathias who married twice in this shrine the cathedral is almost as old as the royal palace and has been the venue of several coronation ceremonies mathias church gained its current form at the turn of the century when a lot of smaller buildings attached to it earlier were pulled down and the church was reconstructed in characteristic neo-gothic style in addition to the usual biblical scenes its frescoes still at the most important events in hungary's history the magnificent acoustics make it a popular concert venue do on the corner of olds gaza's and kapitstrand street is the mary magdalen tower part of a 13th century franciscan church used by hungarian speakers under turkish rule this was the only church allowed to remain christian however the church was destroyed during world war ii but the tower survived almost intact the tower was restored in the 1990s and is a popular tourist site attraction where people can climb the tower and reward themselves with some magnificent views only the tower of the church of the former buddha garrison destroyed in world war ii stands behind it a garden of ruins displays the history of the church from the 13th century by far the most tranquil way of ascending castle hill to the royal palace is the siklo originally opened in 1870 its main function was in providing cheap transport for local workers fortune has however not always favored the two little cable cars wrecked by german shelling in 1945 the siklo was left in a state of disrepair until being fully repaired in 1986 today's replica carriages which use electricity rather than steam power complete the steep ascent to zentr gyojit in just under one minute the first stone bridge to be constructed over the danube to connect buda and pest was the chain bridge completed in 1849 the bridge is one of budapest's proudest symbols and is a magnificent site and even more so when it's illuminated at night today there are nine bridges that span the danube but the chain bridge is the pride and joy of the city eight bridges link buddha to pest but the chain bridge is the first and most famous with its solid arches and lion statues count istvan sachini commissioned the englishman responsible for london's hammersmith bridge william tierney clark to design a bridge and the scotsman adam clark to oversee construction completed in 1848 the bridge was inaugurated in 1849 allowing for the integration of buddha pest and obuda in 1872 sadly almost 100 years later the german army succeeded in collapsing the centre span during fierce fighting towards the end of world war ii the bridge was quickly rebuilt and has been periodically renovated which makes driving in budapest an even greater chore as the bridge usually has to be closed do in roosevelt square there are a few monuments the fairing deep statue the hungarian academy and gresham palace gresham palace an art nouveau gem was built in 1904-1906 to house the foreign headquarters of the gresham life insurance company pest on the east side of the danube river is like arriving in another capital city totally contrasting to its unidentical twin sister buddha pest is a vibrant commercial metropolis and is characterized by its wide boulevards famous squares and leafy parks continue your sightseeing adventures in budapest the basilica of saint stephen is budapest's largest church holding more than 8 000 worshipers and took over 60 years to build inside the church tourists can find the mummified right hand of saint stephen one of the holiest relics of christian hungary although the basilica has been criticized for being too dark due to the apparent lack of windows it's still a must-see tourist attraction in the pesticide of the capital quite rightly however the inside of the basilica has been criticized as being too dark there are simply not enough windows for such a large building the title of the largest building in the country belongs to the hungarian national parliament when it was first built in 1902 it was the largest building in the world and today it's still the most dominant site in budapest the parliament stretches across 250 meters along the river danube embankment and was designed in a neo-gothical style and is the most decoratively constructed building in the capital the building is made up of 691 rooms over 12 miles of corridors and has a central dome of 96 metres stand in or at the aquinco museum and roman ruins these two thousand-year-old ruins are remains of a roman town which include an impressive remnant of an actual amphitheater the contents of the museum include murals mosaic floors a reconstructed water organ and a diorama showing how the roman nobility feasted gelet was built in succession style it's located at the buda side foot of the liberty bridge zapatsadhid in the immediate neighborhood of the saint gelat square at kalaniaki street 4-6 andraste avenue with trees on each side was created to help reduce traffic on bustling kerali utka king street the first buildings were constructed in 1872 after large-scale demolition of older buildings among the many treasures of unesco world heritage sites that can be found in the city the building at the hungarian state opera house is worth seeing from the outside and from within it's internationally appreciated that this is one of the most spectacular opera houses in the world whether you have an appreciation for opera or not it's well worth visiting this new renaissance building to marvel at the stunning marble royal stairway beautiful paintings and intricate furnishings octagon is also a station on the yellow line of the budapest metro the location derives its name from its shape which is that of an octagon in the 12th century knights of the order of saint john engaged in curing the sick settled in the area of today's luke expath followed by the orders of rados and malta who built their monasteries baths as well is a square in budapest hungary at the intersection of andhrasi avenue and fells earth soru with beautifully painted old buildings and statues of four of hungary's great heroes in each corner the four heroes in the square are zondi giorgi defender of the kingdom of hungary against the ottomans zorinya miklos defender of the kingdom of hungary against the ottomans balasi balint celebrated poet during the same war against the ottomans giving voice to love and honor vac botten here is blind because he lost an eye while fighting the ottomans the newly renovated buildings are some of the finest and most valuable villas in hungary the palavicini palace the art nouveau shanza today home to the hungarian journalists association the co-guard the house of art and gastronomy is dedicated to art and pleasure regular exhibitions events and concerts are just part of the story the building also boasts an excellent restaurant and coffee house hero square is one of the major squares of budapest hungary it lies at the end of andhrasi avenue next to city park it's surrounded by two important buildings the museum of fine arts on the left and the palace of art on the right on the other side it faces andrasi the central site of the square as well as a landmark of budapest is the millennium memorial also known as millennium monument or millinery monument with statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded hungary in the ninth century and other outstanding figures of hungarian history the construction of the memorial was started when the 1000th anniversary was celebrated in 1896 but it was finished only in 1929 and the square got its name then whenever hungary is mentioned somewhere in the world to be sure the hauta bhaji is also referred to its valuable landscape rich floor and fauna special ethnographic and cultural historic relics make this region an irreplaceable wealth and a national treasure the origin of the grey cattle is still unclear but we can be sure that its present form was created in the carpathian basin scientists agree that the wild ancestor of these species with the aurochs boss primogenius there are three theories about the origin of the grey cattle forty to fifty years ago a single theory existed that this was the breed which was brought by our ancestors to the carpathian basin in the 9th century but based on excavations it seems that this breed came into the area only from the 14th century they spread rapidly due to their economic value the third theory says that they weren't brought in from elsewhere but during the reign of the kings of the house of armored they were domesticated in the carpathian basin by the aurochs who lived in large herds at that time at the end of the 18th century the army and agriculture desperately needed quality horses which the small breeders were unable to produce the emperor joseph ii decided to establish a stud farm and collected 550 mares transylvanian german and hungarian horses in mezzo hedges the stallions they used were mainly spanish neapolitan ones they began breeding in 1785 in 1816 the austro-hungarian cavalry captured an anglo-norman stallion from the rossier stallion depot its name was nonias this horse went on to mezzo hedges and was used to correct the spanish neapolitan and oriental mare population the result was excellent the progenies were highly suitable for the heavy cavalry the breed became a bit too heavy and ordinary therefore the english thoroughbred was introduced in the 1860s this method has proved to be the best so far the continuous breeding with non-estallians from the 1880s produced a tough lighter smaller type of nonis which was the predominant horse in the area until the 1960s the ancestor of the hungarian raqqa sheep was probably the wild sheep of middle asia which came into the carpathian basin with the conquering hungarians in the 9th century this kind of sheep spread mainly in the great hungarian plain although there were around 1 million raqqa in 1870 nowadays we can count only two to three thousand writings say that the shepherd preserved the nomadic lifestyle for the longest time two main groups of shepherd buildings can be distinguished on the hautabhaji one concerns the buildings for the stock and the other group refers to those for the shepherd the horse shows revive the traditions of the horse herds of old times and include the famous five-in-hand driving the series of spectacular horse shows started in 1820 when 24 horsemen from keck comet came first in a competition organized in honour of emperor francis at the end of the 19th century these stable mud or cobwelled herdsmen's huts with thatched or tiled roofs appeared on the putzer the more spacious farmsteads are decorated with a porch these examples of herdsmen's buildings for livestock are called hoddlers or wall toddlers they can be built in such a way that the roof stands on the ground and are traditionally made of reed horsemen have always had amazing skill with their ornamented carrick ass whips highwaymen used to train their horses to the sound of gunshots by cracking their whips visitors can get a taste of the horseman's old days during exciting horse events at several farms on the hautabhaji the water buffalo originates from the indian wild buffalo or from the arnie buffalo which live in great numbers in the swamps of east india even today its characteristic color is ash gray almost black the domestication of the buffalo took place in india and mesopotamia in the prehistoric period this pig was bred from the serbian and hungarian type this swine is typically bred for its lard and not for its meat which is very plain its lard is said to be very low in cholesterol and the finest bacon is made from it the shepherd's museum is situated along the road going through hortobagi village next to the nagitsada and the nine arch bridge its historic building used to be a cart shed from the 19th century the exhibition shows the history of animal grazing and the unique pastoral life shepherds of hortobagi decorated almost everything that passed through their hands the decorated objects were mostly made of leather wood and horn drinking horns salt keepers and sheaths for keeping the mange ointment in were made from the latter the geometric figures and plants scratched with the point of a knife are reminiscent of the decorations on plates from the conquest this exhibition shows the various herdsmen doing their typical work surrounded by their special tools rustic buildings made of reed which illustrate the herdsmen's lives and living conditions can be seen in the hall the exhibition includes a collection of selected handmade items such as the embroidered felt cloaks horn and wood carvings leather work by the shepherds cattle and sheep bells and traditional musical instruments which are all characteristic of the hortobashi region the large lowland in has been used for centuries as an extensive grazing area the landowners lived in deprecan and they controlled all the work done with the herds the typical people of this area were however the herdsmen two national parks have been established to preserve the uniquely multifaceted natural and cultural values of the hungarian putsa the environmental goal of both the hawthabaji national park and the kiskutson national park is to protect the values of the terrain wild waters flora and fauna as well as the scenery of the region along with this they also aim to maintain traditional farm life and husbandry as well as the old breeds of domestic animal species as recognition of the values and conscious environmental action unesco appointed the region of both national parks as biosphere reserves the herdsmen of the hotobashi formed a distinct part of the traditionalist community which the ethnographic literature calls the herdsmen's order in the hautabhaji the herdsmen were the carriers and vivification of a particular culture which was more archaic than that of the peasants the herdsman's work started with counting the animals before driving them out to pasture the illiterate innumerate herdsmen had to be familiar with tallying the tally stick which was a wooden stick that was carved on was used for this on a tally stick the numbers resembled roman numerals and were carved from right to left by a jackknife the shepherd's traditional garments consisted of a white dress called a fair here and an overgarment with a cap and footwear the white dress was made of hand woven linen and was composed of a shirt and long drawers called gatia the over garment was made of leather according to the ancient practice the hungarians favored felt cloaks and the shepherds of the putzer wore them until recently the most important conservational values of the fishponds is constituted by birds in the hotobashi there are 380 species of birds observed so far in hungary with 325 species accepted for the hotobashi there are two hundred and sixty six species recorded in hotobagi halast fishpond with 68 breeding species one of the most important types for conservational reasons are heron colonies the importance of fish ponds for breeding species is similar to that of migratory species this is facilitated by the draining of fish ponds large fish ponds can be fished only if there's a smaller and deeper part of the fish pond so-called fish beds where all fish are forced to swim when draining the fish ponds so they can be caught by the nets the muddy bottom of fish ponds full of organic material is revealed by the time of draining coinciding with the peak of autumn migration these mud flats full of invertebrates provide abundant food resources for large numbers of migrating birds rice fields provided excellent feeding areas for herons egrets ducks and waders while in use the existence of large forest heron colonies was the result of the presence of rice fields the present role of working rice fields outside the national park is to provide abundant food resources for collard prattling coals nesting in arable lands as well as migrating spoonbills and herons in some areas goose and duck farms took the role of alkaline lakes full of nutrients and with barren shorelines attracting large amounts of breeding and migrating waders similar to fish ponds according to recent studies forests could only survive in floodplain forests in the hotobashi the alkaline oak forests in the national park the hearty forest the tilos forest near uchikans maljita and the malam hazy forest a ralconized floodplain oak forests the fact that there were no trees on alkaline soils is suggested not only by geological studies but is also indicated by the many 30 to 40 year old dying trees with dry tree tops planted during the forest plantation program on alkaline soils carried out in the communist regime the northern part of the hotobashi is more wooded one can find rows of trees only alongside rivers and canals in the southern part of the national park spite of the fact that all woods in the hotobashia planted except for the ones mentioned above many of them are important from a nature conservational point of view the hotobashi national park preserve some of the most unique curiosities and treasures in central europe there are more than 50 species of orchids 800 protected plant species and about three thousand six hundred butterfly and moth species to be found in the three hundred national and over a thousand local protected sites lake titza was constructed in the flood land area of the titsa by damming the stretch of the river between kiscor and tistevalt it's the second largest stagnant water body of the carpathian basin with an area of 127 square kilometers after the damning it was possible to get the river barrage of kiscor going the present form of lake titica is the result of a long process that resulted in the forming of water bodies differing from each other in characteristics of appearance hydrology and hydrobiology lake titsa as a whole can be included among reservoirs of shallow lake types but the high degree of its mosaic element is characterized by the presence of marshes shallow lakes large middle and small watercourses with brim sections the topography of the hautabhaji region was formed by the titsa as it was its temporary floodland area the northwestern western border of this smaller geographical region is constituted by the 120 kilometer long stretch of the titsa between tiscaloc and kiscor ah the landscape of the reservoir has changed since lake titza was created in the reed grass fields there are nests of great crested grebes rednecked and black nested greaves whiskered turns and black turns more hens amble on the large leaves of the reed grass recently yellow carpets of floating heart have taken over large areas of several hectares water chestnut which is very rare in europe occupies many areas here in the bird reserve there are strictly protected areas which have highly sensitive wildlife these areas can only be visited with special permission and are strictly reserved for research and checking purposes during the spring and autumn migration hundreds of thousands of geese and ducks who dwell on lake titica take flight they can be watched from the embankment sports fans from the south bathers and peace-loving anglers as well as the tourists who come to examine the floor and fauna can easily enjoy their hobbies side by side due to the incredible hydrology of the lake besides water tourism village horse and bicycle tourism have been developing in the area in recent years the nine arch bridge is so well placed that the hauta bhaji can't be imagined without it its constructor fairenk pavolni made his name in hungarian bridge building with this creation the bridge finished in 1833 is the longest and the most beautiful stone bridge in hungary its full length is 167.3 meters the body of the bridge is 92.13 meters long
the stones were brought from tokaj to tishkatsej on the titsa and from there they were transported by wagons to the location the four hundred thousand bricks needed for the bridge were burnt by wood brought from the oakhorde of ohat the most important road between transylvania and budapest which had been an important commercial road from the middle ages crossed the river hotobaji here by the end of the 18th century these wells had spread all over the hotobashi they were large wells whose perimeter could be as large as four meters in order to allow a number of buckets to be used at the same time for the welds with two three or four drawers the shepherd stood on a plank over the well to draw water for the animals although the terrain was full of wells it was hard to find drinking water for man the landowners of debrican believe that only the sinking of artesian wells could solve this problem by the end of the 19th century six of these wells had been created there were different kinds of shepherd buildings some quite primitive for example the cunha a cone-shaped hut made of reed which was used to store the shepherd's lunchbox and fur coat and as a shelter during long rainfalls vaseli the well-known shepherd's kitchen was also a simple building it's roofless with felled reed walls to protect the fire from the wind and is where the shepherds cooked in an iron pot herdsmen always ate hot meals together seated around the iron pot and traditionally the leader always served himself first the others followed him according to the hierarchy the landscape of the hotobashi national park preserves intact and visible the evidence of its traditional use over more than two millennia and represents the harmonious interaction between human beings and nature the cultural landscape of the hortobagi puzzle consists of a vast area of planes and wetlands in eastern hungary traditional forms of land use such as the grazing of domestic animals have been present in this pastoral society for more than two millennia you
2021-10-28 20:00
