The story of this place
Despite its medieval look, the Halászbástya was built between 1895 and 1902 as a decorative viewing terrace crowning Castle Hill. Architect Frigyes Schulek gave it seven white stone turrets, one for each of the Magyar tribes who, led by Árpád, settled the Carpathian Basin around 895 AD. Its name recalls the guild of fishermen said to have defended this stretch of wall in the Middle Ages. Damaged in WWII and restored by Schulek's own son, its neo-Romanesque arcades frame postcard views of the Parliament and the Danube. Beside it stands the bronze equestrian statue of Saint Stephen, Hungary's first Christian king, crowned in the year 1000.