Heroes Square, Budapest

Hungary has been occupied on one level or another for much of it's history. It was part of the eastern migration of the Roman Empire, and until the end of the Soviet Union in 1989, Humgary has had, shall we say, mutliple foreign influences. So when we pulled up to a massive monument called "Heroes Square", I wondered what you might have had to do to get on the pedestal there.

The central site of the hero's square, as well as a landmark of Budapest, is the Millennium Memorial (also known as Millennium Monument or Millenary Monument) with statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the 9th century. These guys look their age, and they look like they come from a tribal background. They have a decidedly Asian look about them. When we were souvenior hunting later in the day after we saw this monument, we were attracted to depictions of one of these seven heroes. I wouldn't have pegged them as Hungarian, but they were defintiely cool looking.

The other heroes who ring the huge square (located at one end of Andrássy Avenue, which is a high class neighborhood in Pest) are less clear cut in their heroism, and in some cases less permanent. The monument was built in 1900, when Hungary was part of the Hapsburg empire. Some of the original heroes date from that time, but when the monument was damaged in WWII, and in the rebuilding process, the Hapsburg heros were not replaced. The hotel we stayed at in Budapest had different floors named after different heroes, and our floor was named for Béla IV. he is the king who rebuilt the country after the Mongols came through, and that is the sort of heroism that gets you onto the platform in Heroes Square. You have done your best with a bad situation.