Budapest | Parliament Building

One of the most magnificent architectural masterpieces I have ever seen, the Budapest Parliament compares to Versailles and the Imperial Palace in Bangkok in terms of the sheer extravagance of its design. When the National Assembly decided to build a fitting Parliament building in 1880, a competition was held, and architects were invited to submit their designs. Out of all the entries, the Gothic Revival design of Imre Steindl was selected. Interestingly, the winning design — along with the second and third place finishers — were all constructed. It's an unique experience to see the top three finishers of an architectural competition together around one square!

A tour of the Budapest Parliament is a memorable experience. Tourists enter through security, then climb an immense ornamental staircase leading to the central sixteen-sided Dome Hall. The photograph above can only suggest how ornate this room is. 96 meters high, the building's height is an historical allusion to the date of the origin of Hungary in 896. The Hungarian Coronation Regalia is displayed in the center of the hall. Around the room are the statues of 16 great Hungarians in history (including one woman, Maria Theresa).

After viewing Dome Hall, tours go towards either the Lower Chamber (which represented commoners) or Upper Chamber (which represented the aristocracy) — although the Upper Chamber is no longer in use for legislative purposes. (It is available, for a price, for private weddings if any of my readers are so inclined!) Numbered cigar holders can be viewed in the corridor outside these chambers. Legislators typically engaged in lobbying before entering the legislative chamber where smoking was not permitted. Rather than extinguishing their expensive cigars, they "parked" them in a numbered spot in one of the holders, then retrieved them — still burning — after the close of the legislative session.

Guided tours in a number of languages are available, or contact your travel consultant to arrange for a custom private tour of Budapest.

Budapest Parliament (search here on Google)


photograph and article copyright (c) 2009 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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