Budapest, del 7 al 10 de desembre de 2017: descobrint nous llocs per Budapest (9 de desembre de 2017; dia 3) (IX)

Un cop passat el tràngol, ja ens enfilem cap a l’estàtua, tot passant per una església dins d’una gruta, la Géllert, tot i que no hi entrem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gell%C3%A9rt_Hill_Cave ) Hi ha una bona caminada fins al capdamunt. La fred ja ens va passant mica en mica amb tantes escales i pendents. Finalment, ja arribem al capdamunt, a on s’erigeix l’Estàtua de la Llibertat de Budapest (https://www.budapest.com/city_guide/sights/monuments_of_art/liberty_statue.en.html ). Sobre aquesta estàtua es conta el següent (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Statue_(Budapest) ):” The Liberty Statue or Freedom Statue (Hungarian: Szabadság-szobor, Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈsɒbɒt͡ʃːaːɡ ˈsobor]) is a monument on the Gellért Hill in Budapest, Hungary. It commemorates those who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary. It was first erected in 1947 in remembrance of what was then referred to as the Soviet liberation of Hungary during World War II, which ended the occupation by Nazi Germany. Its location upon Gellért Hill makes it a prominent feature of Budapest's cityscape.

The 14 m tall bronze statue stands atop a 26 m pedestal and holds a palm leaf. Two smaller statues are also present around the base, but the original monument consisted of two more originally that have since been removed from the site and relocated to Statue Park. The monument was designed by Zsigmond Kisfaludi Stróbl. According to Kisfaludi Stróbl himself the design was originally made for the memorial of István Horthy and would in that role have featured a human child instead of the palm leaf that was a Soviet addition.

At the time of the monument's construction, the defeat of Axis forces by the Red Army was officially proclaimed “liberation”—leading to the original inscription upon the memorial (both in Hungarian and Russian):

A FELSZABADÍTÓ
SZOVJET HŐSÖK
EMLÉKÉRE
A HÁLÁS MAGYAR NÉP
1945

which can be translated to read, "To the memory of the liberating Soviet heroes [erected by] the grateful Hungarian people [in] 1945".

Over the following years, public sentiment toward the Soviets decreased to the point of revolution, which was attempted and temporarily succeeded in 1956 and subsequently damaged some portions of the monument. After the 1989 transition from communist rule to democracy, the inscription was modified to read:

MINDAZOK EMLÉKÉRE

AKIK
ÉLETÜKET ÁLDOZTÁK
MAGYARORSZÁG
FÜGGETLENSÉGÉÉRT,
SZABADSÁGÁÉRT
ÉS BOLDOGULÁSÁÉRT

Translated from Hungarian: "To the memory of those all who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary".

L’estàtua és espectacular, però el que realment crida l’atenció del lloc és poder contemplar la immensitat del Danubi il·luminat, amb tots els seus ponts majestuosos. L’espectacle és impressionant. Tant sols per aquesta vista ja val la pena haver fer l’esforç de pujar!

De la fred, les bateries dels mòbils aguanten ben poc! Després de les preceptives fotos a l’estàtua, passegem una mica per la zona, que és la de la ciutadella (https://www.disfrutabudapest.com/ciudadela ). Ho veiem una mica per fora, sobretot algunes armes que hi ha per allí exposades. Sobre aquest indret, es conta el següent (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadella ):” The Citadella is the fortification located upon the top of Gellért Hill in Budapest, Hungary. Citadella is the Hungarian word for citadel, a kind of fortress. The word is exclusively used by other languages to refer to the Gellért Hill citadel which occupies a place which held strategicimportance in Budapest's military history.

The fortress was built in 1851 by Julius Jacob von Haynau, a commander of the Austrian Empire, and was designed by Emmanuel Zitta and Ferenc Kasselik, after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. It occupies almost the entire 235 metres high plateau. The fortress is a U-shaped structure built about a central courtyard, being 220 metres long, 60 metres wide, and 4 metres tall. It had a complement of sixty cannons.^[1]

Actually built by Hungarian forced labourers, it was finished in 1854. In June 1854 Austrian troops settled in the citadel. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the establishment of Austria–Hungary, the Hungarians demanded the destruction of the Citadel, but the garrison troops left only in 1897, when the main gate was symbolically damaged. It was not until late 1899 when the city took possession of the Citadel. A few months later, in 1900, the walls were demolished.

In the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Soviet troops occupied the Citadella and fired down into the city during the assault that overthrew the Nagy-led Hungarian government.

Next to the Danube-facing longitudinal wall of the Citadella, there is an open-air display of a small collection of Red Army weaponry, most of them from the Second World War. The pieces are the following (going left to right on the picture):

·         a 76 mm M1942 divisional gun (ZiS-3), a design from 1942

·         a 57 mm M1943 anti-tank gun (ZiS-2), a design from 1943

·         an 82 mm BM-37 infantry mortar, a design from 1937

·         an 85 mm D-44 divisional gun, a design from 1944

·         a 57 mm AZP S-60 anti-aircraft autocannon, a design from 1950

From the top of the Citadel, a panoramic view is available of the city, the Danube and its eight bridges. There are other points of interest nearby, including the Liberty Statue, Hotel Gellért, the Gellért Baths and the Gellért Hill Cave.” (Continuarà)

(La imatge és d'un dels extrems del pont d'Elisabet, a Budapest)