Welcome to the weblog of the Budapest Studytrip of the 1st year Tourism and Leisure Management Students.This blog is made for all paritcipants and their family and friends. Here you can find information about the City, all company visits planned, the hostel, transportation within Budapest, leisure activities and F&B.The central theme of this study trip is citymarketing. Therefore we will visit different companies dealing with this topic , such as Budapest info, the citymarketing company of Budapest. Other company visits planned are the Gellert Hotel and Continental Travel. We also will do some sightseeing and there is also individual time to explore the city.
In every category on the top of this website you will find information about the specific topics. And of course we will provide you with pictures and daily reports when we are in Budapest.
We hope you enjoy reading.

Leisure


Budapest Walking Tour

The Chain Bridge is one of Budapest's most famous landmarks. The magnificent suspension bridge was built in the 19th century across the river Danube between Pest and Buda, at the time still separate cities.
The first connection between Pest and Buda was made by the Chain Bridge or Széchenyi lánchíd, 

named after count Széchenyi, who took the initiative to build the bridge. In 1836 he gave the project to William Tierney Clark and Adam Clark.
William Clark had already designed two suspension bridges over the Thames; the Hammersmith Bridge in London and the Marlow Bridge. The latter is a similar albeit smaller version of the bridge William Clark would design for Budapest. The construction of the Chain Bridge was supervised by the Scottish engineer Adam Clark (not related).

The 375 meter (1230ft) long and 16 meter wide bridge, a superb engineering feat, was opened on november 20, 1849. In 1857 Adam Clark dug a 350 meter long tunnel through the Castle Hill to connect the bridge with the Buda hinterland. The bridge ignited the economic revival that would lead to Budapest's golden century and it was one of the factors that made the provincial towns of Pest and Buda into a fast-growing metropolitan. In 1989 people demonstrated on the chain bridge for freedom and independence. Since then, the bridge has become a symbol of Hungarian liberty.

Buda Castle is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings in Budapest, first completed in 1265. In the past, it was also called Royal Palace and Royal Castle.

Buda Castle was built on the southern tip of Castle Hill, bounded on the north by what is known as the Castle District , famous for its Medieval, Baroque and 19th century houses, churches and public buildings. It is linked to Clark Ádám Square and the Széchenyi Chain Bridge by the Castle Hill Funicular.
The castle is part of the Budapest World Heritage Site, declared in 1987.
Rising 48 meters above the Danube, the Castle Hill or Várhegy nevertheless dominates the city. This hill is the place where Budapest was founded. It is a small, densely built rock, with the Buda Castle as the most prominent building.
The foundations of the castle, which would later be besieged no less than 31 times, were laid in the 13th century after Mongol tribes had invaded Hungary. King Béla built a keep surrounded by thick walls in 1243 on a site which was previously occupied by a small farming community. Around the keep, a small town called Buda started to grow. During the Reign of King Lajos the Great, the keep was fortified and a palace was built. Later, during the reign of Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387-1437), the castle was again expanded, resulting in one of the greatest palaces in Europe.

Lion's Gate
The 15th century palace
At the end of the 15th century, during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus the castle was restored and new wings were added to the palace. Very little remains of this beautiful palace of the 15th century, as the buildings were almost completely demolished when Budapest was recaptured after the Turkish ruled the city between 1541 and 1686.

The 18th century palace
A new palace was built between 1714 and 1723 by King Charles III of Habsburg. It was designed in a Baroque style by Fortunato de Prati and supervised 

Matthias Fountain
by Johann Hölbling. The palace was extended by King Charles's daughter, the empress Maria Theresa, but the great fire of 1810 and the attack of the castle during the Hungarian rising destroyed much of the new palace.

Dual Monarchy Expansion
After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, there was a new need for a castle in Budapest to express Hungary's larger independence. To the buildings left from Charles III and Maria Theresa, a new wing and central domed structure were added. At the end of W.W.II, the complex was damaged again by fire, but after the restoration started in the fifties, the Buda Castle can be seen in all its glory again. The Castle with its 203 rooms now houses several museums, among them the Budapest Historical Museum and the National Gallery.
Matthias Church (Hungarian: Mátyás-templom) is a church located in Budapest, Hungary, at the heart of Buda's Castle District. According to church tradition, it was originally built in Romanesque style in 1015. The current building was constructed in the florid late Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century and was extensively restored in the late 19th century. It was the second largest church of medieval Buda and the seventh largest church of medieval Hungarian Kingdom.
Officially named as the Church of Our Lady, it has been popularly named after King Matthias, who ordered the transformation of its original southern tower. The church was the scene of several coronations, including that of Charles IV in 1916 (the last Habsburg king). It was also the site for King Matthias's two weddings (the first to Catherine of Poděbrady and, after her death, to Beatrice of Naples). During the century and a half of Turkish occupation, the vast majority of its ecclesiastical treasures were shipped to Pressburg (present day Bratislava) and following the capture of Buda in 1541 the church became the city's main mosque. Ornate frescoes that previously adorned the walls of the building were whitewashed and interior furnishings stripped out.
The church was also a place of the so called Mary-wonder. In 1686 during the siege of Buda by the Holy League a wall of the church collapsed due to cannonfire. It turned out that an old votive Madonna statue was hidden behind the wall. As the sculpture of the Virgin Mary appeared before the praying Muslims, the morale of the garrison collapsed and the city fell on the same day.
Although following Turkish expulsion in 1686 an attempt was made to restore the church in theBaroque style, historical evidence shows that the work was largely unsatisfactory. It was not until the great architectural boom towards the end of the 19th century that the building regained much of its former splendour. The architect responsible for this work was Frigyes Schulek.

The Halászbástya or Fisherman's Bastion is a terrace in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style situated on the Buda bank of the Danube, on the Castle hill in Budapest, around Matthias Church. It was designed and built between 1895 and 1902 on the plans of Frigyes Schulek. Between 1947–48, the son of Frigyes Schulek, János Schulek, conducted the other restoration project after its near destruction during World War II.
From the towers and the terrace a panoramic view exists of Danube, Margaret Island, Pest to the east and the Gellért Hill. Its seven towers represent the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in 896. The Bastion takes its name from the guild of fishermen that was responsible for defending this stretch of the city walls in the Middle Ages. It is a viewing terrace, with many stairs and walking paths. A bronze statue of Stephen I of Hungary mounted on a horse, erected in 1906, can be seen between the Bastion and the Matthias Church. The pedestal was made by Alajos Stróbl, based on the plans of Frigyes Schulek, in Neo-Romanesque style, with episodes illustrating the King's life.
It was featured as a Pit Stop on the sixth season of The Amazing Race.
The church was restored to its original 13th century plan but a number of early original Gothicelements were uncovered. By also adding new motifs of his own (such as the diamond pattern roof tiles and gargoyles laden spire) Schulek ensured that the work, when finished, would be highly controversial. It is home to the Ecclesiastical Art museum which begins in the medieval crypt and leads up to the St. Stephen Chapel. The gallery contains a number of sacred relics and medieval stone carvings, along with replicas of the Hungarian royal crown and coronation jewels. 
Excursion Danube Boat Cruise:

The evening sightseeing cruise is combined with a sound and vision show.  It is on Tuesday in the evening. At 8 o’clock we have a cruisetrip. The boat departs from the centre of Budapest and makes an hour round trip in the city. While you are enchanted by the illuminated sights, famous personalities from the Hungarian history, kings, queens, poets, inventors and even the Danube tells you legendary stories about the town. Through TV screens you will be able to look behind the walls of the buildings passing by, to admire the hidden interiors. The program ends with the Blue Danube Waltz which will whisper in your ears any time you remember the tour.


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