Heroes Square

 

I suppose this is Budapest's equivalent of Trafalgar Square. One difference is that its larger, and emptier.

You get there on the Metro, on the oldest line. (Second oldest underground railway in Europe - after London of course). I had forgotten one of the cute things about the Budapest metro - the little musical fanfare before a sinister voice tells you the station you are arriving at, as if a fanfare was deserved in just having made it to another stop,

Anyway, I rather like Heroes Square for all its bombastic statuary. Maybe partly because of that. I am quite partial to a spot of bombast. The Millennium Monument frames the north side.

 Left and right are the Museum of Fine Arts

and the Mucszarnok Art Gallery (the latter for temporary art exhibitions). The south side is open to Andrassy Street.

I love the Museum of Fine Arts. Great exterior, great interior, and great exhibits.

The classical collection is certainly nowhere near as impressive as, say, the British Museum, but what they have is very strikingly (and simply) displayed. My visit was only slightly blighted by the school parties. Of course, the kids were bored and distracted, and like little girls the world over no doubt, they just burst out giggling at the nude Greek statues with missing limbs (the statues, not the girls).

The rest of the ground floor is either temporary exhibition space or grand renaissance halls

Upstairs off the grand corridors lead to an extensive collection of Old Masters. These are not the most famous bits of the collection (except maybe the Breughel), but just some random paintings I liked or thought striking, just to give you an idea of what is on offer.

But my real favourite was this Carravaggiesque painting of a card game. I love the way the courtesan (probably) is looking at us, showing her cards, the guy on the left is looking away in distractedly vacant manner, while the characters at the back are engaged in conversation between themselves. So the viewer is being engaged by one person in the action, while others are engaged with themselves. And everyone just looks a bit bored, resigned almost. One of those nights out where you are supposed to be having fun, but no-one actually is.

Just beyond Heroes Square is Vajdahunyad Castle. Its not a real castle, but a fantasy castle/palace on an island - a deliberate mix of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque architecture (with a Romanesque church thrown in) which all fits together surprisingly well.

Between the castle and the square is the Secssionist Pavilion - pretty, with a rather striking statue at the front (good photographs slightly constrained by trying not to include the tramlines)

And all is surrounded by the Varosgliet - the City Park. If you wander around this you do find some interesting (and unlikely) statues tucked away. Yes, this is Winston Churchill.

And George Washington

This is "Anonymous" (a monk who was the equivalent of the Venerable Bede in recording details of early Hungarian history, but whose name (and indeed facial features) have not come down to us).

And there are some (ahem) less successful modern attempts at sculpture.