This was part of Central Europe - Day 3 🇭🇺 🔗.


I joined the Communism Walk at 4:00 PM to learn about life in Budapest and Hungary both before and after the Iron Curtain. Our tour began at the Lion Fountain, a classic meeting point in the city, before heading to Elizabeth Square. Here, we saw the Budapest Eye, the giant Ferris wheel that offers panoramic views of the modern city skyline.

Next, we headed to St. Stephen’s Basilica, the largest church in Budapest. Our guide pointed out the contrast between the grand religious architecture and the austere, Soviet-style buildings surrounding Szent István tér, which were designed to project socialist functionality.


Our next stop was Liberty Square (Szabadság tér), a space dense with political symbolism. We saw the Memorial for Victims of the German Occupation, which depicts an eagle (Germany) attacking the Archangel Gabriel (Hungary). Nearby, we spotted a seemingly ordinary ventilation structure for the F-4 Object (Rákosi-bunker), a massive, formerly secret nuclear shelter built deep beneath downtown Budapest in the 1950s.


Walking further into Liberty Square, we visited the Soviet War Memorial. This obelisk is the last remaining monument to the Soviet liberation of Hungary from Nazi occupation still standing in its original place in central Budapest.


In a nearby corner of the square, a statue of George H. W. Bush stands to honor the former U.S. president’s role in peacefully ending the Cold War. We also saw the statue of Imre Nagy, the prime minister and hero of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising, depicted standing on a symbolic bridge (note: this statue has since been moved to Jászai Mari Square).


Our last stop was Kossuth Lajos Square, the monumental home of the Hungarian Parliament Building. We ended the tour at the Kossuth Monument, a grand group of sculptures dedicated to Lajos Kossuth, the leader of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution for independence.


👣 Communism Walk