Our first stop of the day was at Heroes’ Square a UNESCO World Heritage site that features the Millennium Monument with statues of Hungarian Kings or chief-tans of the Magyars, the ancient Hungarians, as well as some other important leaders. It is considered an iconic plaza in Budapest of which the local are extremely proud.

 

We delighted in a Guided Sightseeing tour of Budapest, including the iconic Heroes’ Square, where we got off the bus and took a walk around the heroes and then followed this with a city tour of the exquisitely beautiful city of Budapest (pronounced Buda Pesht).

 

The monument was commissioned in 1896 to commemorate the foundation of the Hungarian state formed when the Magyars conquered the Carpathian Basin. In other words, that is when the Magyars took the land away from the indigenous people that occupied it at the time. Isn’t that how states work? It is called conquest, and conquests are rarely pretty. I wondered what was really heroic about that? Did the people from whom they took the land see them as heroes?

The monument consists of a semicircle of Doris columns with statues of various Hungarian figures on them. There is also an obelisk crowned with a statue of the Archangel Gabriel. I guess they are claiming that the conquest had God’s blessings. Aren’t Gods always thanked for military victories?

It was called Heroes’ Square for the first time, in 1906. In 1906 the Habsburgs ruled Hungary and they expected to add more of their family as years went by, for of course, they expected to rule forever. But the Hapsburgs lost their empire 12 years later. In fact, the Habsburg empire which had lasted for centuries, and in 1906 was commonly believed that it would endure forever, actually collapsed shortly after World War I ended

 

The Habsburgs lost their empire of Hungary with the collapse of Austria-Hungary following World War I, when Hungary declared independence and the last Emperor, Charles I, renounced his role, formally ending centuries of Habsburg rule over Hungarian lands, thus and ushering in a republic. That lasted until the communists of Russian captured it after World War II. All of these empires remind me of a famous English poem which I studied in high school.

 

 

 

 

Ozymandias

 

By Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Similarly, nothing remains of the glory of the Hapsburgs, though members of their family are still alive and well. Empires fade in time. Thankfully.

 

At the site we also saw the tomb of the unknown soldier as is commonly exhibited around Europe. I suppose it was intended to persuade the common people that it was heroic of them to offer their lives for the Habsburgs.  I am not so sure that one such tomb is worth the price. Unlike some of the tombs in Europe this one contains no human remains.

Who thinks it is worth it? Who thinks there is anything heroic here?

 

I wish more monuments were put up for people who worked hard at helping people to live together. Heroes for pluralism. That’s what we really need. Heroes for plunder not so much.

The square remains a focal point in Budapest and celebrations, ceremonies and the occasional protest are known to take place here. It’s a popular place for tourists to visit in the summer, and its giant proportions remain impressive.

 

Yet tourists are always brought here. We were brought here by our tour guide in 2004 and again this year. Just like last time, I got out of the coach and took a few photos. They call it a World Heritage Site and I think I have to photograph it.