Aquincum

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Aquincum
To introduce Budapest to a tourist from abroad I
would tell him some historical and geographical
data about the Hungarian capital. 2000 years ago
the Romans called this settlement Aquincum, that
is the city of waters because there were and
still there are lot of hot water springs and
medicinal baths in this region. Real urbanisation
began in the fifteenth century when under the
rule of Sigismund of Luxemburg the royal castle
on the Buda hills was built. The later centuries,
especially the nineteenth century saw the
flourishing of Pest lying on the other side of
the River Danube. Today Budapest is a busy
metropolis with a population of 2 million people.
The city is extremely rich in historical and
cultural monuments, works of art and natural
beauties.
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Coronation church
Then I would take the visitor to the centre of
Buda where we can find the Castle Hill. On its
top the Royal Castle District was built. In its
central square, the Trinity Square, stands the
famous Church Matthias. It is also called the
Coronation Church and several kings of Hungary
were buried here. It was built in the thirteenth
century in Gothic style so it is more than 700
years old. Next to the church we can see the
bronze statue of King Stephen I. and that of
János Hunyadi.
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The Crown Jewels The Hungarian Kings crown can
be seen in the Hungarian Parliament today.
Besides the crown there is the orb and the
sceptre. These things come from different places
and different historical ages.
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The blazon/coat of arms
The blazon In 1990 we got back the Hungarian
historical blazon, which glints the national
decisive events, and there were a lot of
different versions in the past centuries.
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The sceptre
The sceptre is the oldest piece of the crown
jewels. There is no doubt about it. Its point
/tip/ was made from pebbles, which was decorated
with lions. Probably it comes from Saint
Stephens treasury.
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The orb
It was made about at the end of the 14th century.
On its side there is an enamelled blazonshield,
which was used by the first Hungarian dynasty,
and the next dynasty called the Anjous.
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Gellért Hill
I think I would start a tour of Budapest by
taking the tourist up to the Gellért Hill,
because this is the best point from which we can
see the best panorama of the city. The hill was
named after a Venetian bishop, who came to
Hungary in the eleventh century to convert the
inhabitants to Christianity. His statue stands on
the very spot from where the pagans threw him
into the Danube. There is also a fortress on the
top of the hill called the Citadel, which was
built in 1851. Standing high above the city on
the highest point of the hill the statue of
Liberty can be seen.
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Behind the church the Fishermens Bastion can be
found, from which there is a magnificent view of
the Danube with the Houses of Parliament on the
opposite bank of the river.
This the Heroes Square in Budapest. On this tall
column stands the figure of Gabriel Ark Angel
bearing the ancient emblem of Hungary and its
base is surrounded by bronze horsemen
representing the Hungarian chieftains who led
their tribes to the present area of Hungary.
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By Orsolya Fülöp and Martina Juhász 11 C Topic S1
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Source Némethné Hock Ildikó1000 Questions 1000
Answers Lexika kiadó,2000