The Collegian
Thursday, April 25, 2024

PHOTO ESSAY: Budapest, Hungary

<p>On Szent István tér, a brick square, walking toward Szent István Bazilika in Budapest, Hungary.</p>

On Szent István tér, a brick square, walking toward Szent István Bazilika in Budapest, Hungary.

Budapest, Hungary.

During a nine-day trip that was aimed to reunite my grandfather and his sister after 45 years of long-distance calls, I  explored Budapest. I saw how it marries its complicated past with a future tabula rasa, a clean slate, in the form of commemorative statues and memorials. 

In a city that has faced a litany of sieges and wars in the distant past as well as Nazi and Communist occupation in more recent history, the city now embodies a revived national zeitgeist. 

Budapest recognizes the hardships it has faced, yet functions beyond them to cultivate a community of friendly faces with a love of life. 

inside basilica budapest

Frescos and arches inside of Szent István Bazilika.


budapest basilica

View from the top of Szent István Bazilika.


yet another budapest

Tram crossing the Liberty Bridge from Buda to Pest.


mostest budapest

View of Buda, the Danube River and Pest on the walk to the Citadella. 


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most budapest

Neighborhood near the Fisherman’s Bastion. 


even more budapest

View from Fisherman’s Bastion of the Hungarian Parliament Building across the Danube River.


more budapest

The Hungarian Parliament.

Contact photographer Valerie Szalanczy at valerie.szalanczy@richmond.edu.

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