Page 91 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Budapest

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p Museum of led by Ignác Martinovics, were
Military History imprisoned here; a plaque
Hadtörténeti Múzeum records this event. A well feat-
uring a copy of a sculpture of
Tóth Árpád sétány 40. Map 1 A4. Artemis, the Greek goddess of
Tel (06 1) 325 16 00. @ 16, 16A, 116. hunting, by Praxiteles, was set
Open Apr–Sep: 10am–6pm Tue–Sun; in front of the house in 1873.
Oct–Mar: 10am–4pm Tue–Sun. 8
There are two museums on
The museum is located in a Lords’ Street. The Telephony
wing of the former Palatine Museum, at No. 49, is a former
barracks. It houses a wide telephone exchange and
range of military items relating one of the most fun and
to the skirmishes and wars that interactive museums in the
have afflicted Budapest from city. At No. 9 is the entrance
before the Turkish occu pation to the Laby rinth, one of the
to the 20th century. Uniforms, seven under ground wonders One of many caves in the ancient,
flags, weapons, maps and of the world. subterranean Labyrinth
ammunition from as far back
as the 11th century give an Hungarian King Matthias
insight into the long, turbulent s Labyrinth captured Vlad Tepes, also known
history of Budapest. Labirintus as Dracula, in Transylvania in
Of particular interest is the Úri utca 9. Map 1 B5. Tel (06 1) 212 02 1462 and had him taken to
exhibit concerning the 1956 07. @ 16, 16A, 116. Open 10am–7pm Buda, where he was sentenced
Uprising. Photographs illustrate daily. ∑ labirintus.eu to ten years in the Labyrinth’s
the 13 days of demonstrations prison. In its current incarnation
that ended in a Soviet invasion. The haunt of prehistoric man (replacing the attraction that
and a huge civilian death toll. some half a million years ago, closed in 2011), the Labyrinth
the Labyrinth comprises a focuses on Dracula’s internment
1,200-metre (1,000-yard) section with mannequins of his victims
a Lords’ Street of the impressive complex of appearing alongside the torture
Úri Utca caves, cellars, dungeons and chamber, red marmor tomb-
springs that run beneath Castle stone and medieval handcuffs.
Map 1 A4, 1 B4 and 1 B5 (9 A2). Hill at about 10–15 metres From 6pm, oil lamps are lit.
Tel (06 1) 201 88 57. @ 16, 16A, 116.
Telephony Museum: Open 10am– (33–50 ft) below ground level. Visitors can then tour the caves
4pm Tue–Sun. ∑ postamuzeum.hu The complex has been used by the eerie light of lanterns.
variously as wine vaults, torture In the “Maze of Darkness”
The buildings in Lords’ chambers, a prison, a hideaway section, there is complete
Street were destroyed first and also served as a shelter darkness and only a thread
in 1686 and again in 1944. during World War II. The to hold on to.
Reconstruction in 1950–60
restored much of their original
medieval character. Almost
all have some remnant of a
Gothic gateway or hall, while
the façade is Baroque or
Neo-Classical.
An excellent example of a
Gothic façade can be seen
on Hölbling House at No. 31.
Enough of its original features
survived the various wars and
renovations to enable architects
to reconstruct the façade in
considerable detail. The first-
floor window is a particularly
splendid Gothic feature. The
houses opposite are also exam-
ples of this restoration work.
The building at No. 53 was
rebuilt between 1701–22 as a
Franciscan monastery, but in
1789 it was restyled for use
by Emperor Joseph II. In
1795, Hungarian Jacobites, Lords’ Street, which runs the full length of the Old Town

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