Hősök tere

Hősök tere (meaning "Heroes' Square" in Hungarian) is one of the major squares of Budapest, Hungary. It lies at the end of Andrássy Avenue (with which it comprises part of a World Heritage site), next to City Park.

It is surrounded by two important buildings, Museum of Fine Arts on the left and Palace of Art (or "Art Exhibition Museum") on the right. On the other side it faces Andrassy Avenue which has two buildings looking at the square — one is residential and the other one is the embassy of Serbia (former Yugoslavian embassy where Imre Nagy secured sanctuary in 1956).

The central site of the square, as well as a landmark of Budapest, is the "Millennium Memorial" (also known as "Millennium Monument" or "Millenary Monument") with statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the 9th century and other outstanding figures of Hungarian history (see below). The construction of the memorial was started when the one thousandth anniversary was celebrated (in 1896), but it was finished only in 1929 and the square got its name then.

When the monument was originally constructed, Hungary was a part of the Austrian Empire and thus the last four spaces for statues on the left of the colonnade were reserved for members of the ruling Habsburg dynasty. From left to right these were: Ferdinand I (relief: Defense of the Castle at Eger); Charles III (relief: Eugene of Savoy defeats the Turks at Zenta), Maria Theresa (relief: The Hungarian Diet votes support "vitam et sanguinem") and Franz Joseph (relief: Franz Joseph crowned by Gyula Andrássy) The monument was damaged in World War II and when it was rebuilt the Habsburgs were replaced by the current figures.

On the 16th June 1989 a crowd of 250,000 gathered at the square for the historic reburial of Imre Nagy, who had been executed in June 1958.

It is also a station of the yellow M1 (Millennium Underground) line of the Budapest Metro.

There are also three other squares in Budapest entitled Hősök tere, in Soroksár, Békásmegyer and Rákosliget.

Millennium Monument

At the front of the monument is a large stone cenotaph surrounded by an ornamental iron chain. The cenotaph is dedicated "To the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the freedom of our people and our national independence." While some guide books refer to this as a "tomb" it is not a burial place.

Directly behind the cenotaph is a column topped by a statue of the archangel Gabriel. In his right hand the angel holds the crown of St. Steven (Istvan), the first king of Hungary. In his left hand the angel holds a two barred apostolic cross, a symbol awarded to St. Steven by the Pope in recognition of his efforts to convert Hungary to Christianity.

At the base of the column is a group of seven mounted figures representing the Magyar chieftains who led the Hungarian people into the Carpathian basin. In the front is Árpád [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rp%C3%A1d] , considered the founder of the Hungarian nation. Behind him are the chieftains Előd, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba, and Töhötöm (Tétény). Little survives in the historical record about these individuals and both their costumes and their horses are considered to be more fanciful than historically accurate.

The back of the monument consists of two matched colonnades, each with seven statues representing great figures of Hungarian history. Topping the outer edge of the left colonnade is a statue of a man with a scythe and a woman sowing seed representing Labor and Wealth. In the corresponding position on the right colonnade is a statue of a man holding a statue and a woman with a palm frond representing Knowledge and Glory.At the inner top edge of the left colonnade is a male figure driving a chariot using a snake as a whip representing war, while on the facing end of the right colonnade is a female figure in a chariot holding a palm frond representing peace.

This is a list of the statesmen who are portrayed by the sculptures in the semi-circular arcades of the monument. The topic of the relief below each figure is given below the name.

*Stephen I of Hungary:St. Stephen receives the crown from an emissary of the Pope
*Ladislaus I of Hungary:St. Ladislaus slays the Cumanian abductor
*Coloman of Hungary:Coloman prohibits the burning of witches
*Andrew II of Hungary:Andrew leads a crusade
*Béla IV of Hungary:Béla rebuilds the country after the Mongol invasion
*Charles I of Hungary:Ladislaus IV defeats Ottogar at the battle of Marchfeld
*Louis I of Hungary:Louis the Great occupies Naples
*János Hunyadi:The battle of Nándorfehérvár
*Matthias Corvinus of Hungary:Matthias with his scholars
*István Bocskay:Hajdú soldiers defeat the imperial forces
*Gabriel Bethlen:Bethlen concludes a treaty with Bohemia
*Imre Thököly:The battle of Szikszó
*Francis II Rákóczi:Rákóczi returns from Poland
*Lajos Kossuth:Kossuth rallies the peasants of the Great Plain

Trivia

Behind the cenotaph but within the decorative chain is a flat bronze plate which marks the site of an artesian well whose drilling was completed in 1878 by Vilmos Zsigmondy. This well provides water for the Széchenyi Baths behind the monument and the [http://www.spasbudapest.com/furdo.php?idx=3 Dagály Baths] in the "Népfürdő utca". The well reached a depth of 971 meters and produces 831 liters of hot water per minute at 74 degrees Celsius

The Heroes' Square monument has a 90% duplicate in Shanghai Global Paradise, Shanghai. Since its opening in 1996, it has been mostly degraded and most statues removed. (See an [http://www.gluckman.com/WildWestChina.html article about the place] and [http://index.hu/kultur/eletmod/hos/ photos of the duplicate monument in a Hungarian article] .)

ources

Hajós, György, "Heroes' Square", Municipality of Budapest (2001)

Gerő, András, "Heroes' Square Budapest" , Corvina (1990)

External links

* [http://metros.hu/allomas/1/09hosok.html Hősök tere undergoundstation]