Page 160 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Budapest

158  BUD APEST AREA B Y AREA

1 Raoul Wallenberg built in 1691 as a memorial to the
city’s earliest plague epidemic.
Monument The Baroque monument was
Raoul Wallenberg szobor moved from central Buda to
Szilágyi Erzsébet fasor. v 56. Újlak in 1712.
Tucked away at the junction
of Szilágyi Erzsébet fasor and 4 Geological
Nagyajtai utca, is this monument and Geophysical
to an heroic but little known Institute of
figure of World War II. Raoul
Wallenberg was a Swedish Hungary
diplomat who used his position Magyar Földtani és Geofizikai
to save over 20,000 Hungarian Intézet
Jews from the extermination Stefánia út 14. Map 8 F1. Tel (06 1)
camps. He set up safe houses 251 09 99. v 75. Museum: Open on
in the city and obtained fake The Baroque interior of Újlak Parish Church, week days by appointment only;
Swedish documents for them. dating from 1756 email: muzeum@mfgi.hu at least one
Following the liberation of week ahead. & ∑ mfgi.hu
Budapest by the Soviet army, 3 Újlak Parish
Wallenberg disappeared. It is Church This beautiful and unusual
thought he was arrested by the building, housing the
KGB and sent to a prison camp Újlaki pébániatemplom Geological and Geophysical
where he died. The memorial, Bécsi út 32. £ H5 Szépvölgyi út. Institute of Hungary, dates from
by sculptor Imre Varga, was v 17, 19, 41. 1898–9 and was designed by
erected in 1987. Ödön Lechner (see p58).
Bavarian settlers first built a Lechner’s very individual
small church here early in the Secession style, also known
2 Szemlő-hegy and 18th century. The present as the Hungarian National
Pál-völgy Caves church, designed by Kristóf Style, is on show here including
Szemlő-hegyi-barlang és Hamon and Mátyás Nepauer, motifs drawn from Hungarian
Pál-völgy-cseppköbarlang was finished in 1756. Its tower Renaissance architecture.
was added some years later. Here and there Zsolnay blue-
Szemlő-hegy Cave: Pusztaszeri út 35. In the Baroque interior there is glazed ceramic ornaments adorn
Tel 325 60 01. @ 29, 91, 291. a depiction of the Madonna, the walls and harmo nize with
Open 10am–4pm Wed–Mon; book a gift from the inhabitants of the blue roof tiles. The central
in advance. & 7 8 Pál-völgy Cave: Passau. The main altar, dating pitched roof is topped by four
Szépvölgyi út 162. Tel (06 1) 325 95 05.
@ 65. Open 10am–4pm Tue–Sun; from 1798, also includes human figures bent under the
book in advance. & 8 ∑ caving.hu a painting entitled The weight of a large globe. Inside
Visitation, which was the is a small museum
Thermal water springs have work of Francis Falkoner. with rock and
created a 120-km (75-mile) long Not far away, at mineral exhibits.
system of caves in the Buda Hills, Zsigmond tér, stands Lechner’s
with picturesque formations. Two the Holy Trinity Secession
caves, less than a kilometre (half Column,
a mile) apart, are open to visitors.
Szemlő-hegy Cave features
extraordinary formations called
“cave pearls”, produced when
hot spring waters penetrate
its limestone walls. There are
guided tours every hour, as well
as caving tours for the more
adventurous; book in advance.
In Pál-völgy Cave, strange
formations protruding from the
rock face resemble animals.
Visitors are advised to wear
warm clothes when entering the
caves as they are cold and damp.
Some claim, however, that the
atmosphere in the caves has a
relaxing and therapeutic effect
on the respiratory system. The Geological and Geophysical Institute of Hungary, with its stunning blue ceramic roof

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