Frommer's Review
Gellért Hill, towering 230m (754 ft.) above the Danube, offers the single best panorama of the city. The hill is named after the iron-fisted Italian Bishop Gellért, who assisted Hungary's first Christian king, Stephen I, in converting the Magyars. Gellért became a martyr when vengeful pagans killed him by rolling him down the side of this hill in a barrel. An enormous statue of Gellért now stands on the hill, with the bishop defiantly holding a cross in his outstretched hand.
On top of Gellért Hill you'll find the Liberation Monument, built in 1947 supposedly to commemorate the Red Army's liberation of Budapest from Nazi occupation, though many believe that Admiral Horthy, Hungary's wartime leader, had planned the statue prior to the liberation to honor his fighter-pilot son, who was killed in the war. A mammoth statue, it's one of the last Socialist Realist memorials you'll find in Hungary. The statue's centerpiece, a giant female figure holding a leaf aloft, is affectionately known as Kiflis Zsuzsa (kifli is a crescent-shaped roll eaten daily by many Hungarians, while Zsuzsa, or Susie, is a common girl's name). Hungarian children like to call the smaller flame-holding figure at her side Fagylaltos fiú (the boy with the ice-cream cone).
Also atop Gellért Hill is the Citadella (tel. 1/365-6076), a symbol of power built for military control by the Austrians in 1851, shortly after they crushed the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848 and 1849. It costs 1,200 Ft ($6) to enter the Citadella, which is open daily from 9am to 7pm. There are several exhibitions to see here, but the main attraction is the great view. To get here, take bus no. 27 from Móricz Zsigmond körtér or hike up on any of the various paved pathways that originate at the base of the hill.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
