Life Under Communism" with optional visit to the House of Terror

Starting in Liberty Square, we will look at the memorial to the Soviet army. This is a grandiose memorial to the Siege of Budapest, the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II.

One of the most stately squares in the city centre, Szabadság tér owes its extensive dimensions to the Habsburg era, when the Bastille-like Újépület stood here. This peacefull, spaceous grean area is great place for peace seekers to rest in delighting enviroment.

We will visit Kossuth Square where the Hungarian parliament stands. During the 1956 revolution, a firefight started in front of the Parliament building, and we stilldon't know exactly how many demonstrators died. The crowd at Kossuth Square consisted of mixed civilian protesters. Next to the men were women, children, the elderly. The news of the massacre played an important role in bringing the people of the country and Budapest to the brink of revolution and armed struggle.

The square, renamed in 1927 in honor of Lajos Kossuth, was previously known by several names including Parliament square. Facing the parliament building are the Museum of Ethnography, and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Petőfi Statue, and Március 15. Square, located at the foot of Erzsébet Bridge, at front of the oldest church of Budapest. Thanks to a renovation in 2011, is a very popular scene of social life - not just for tourists.

On the south-east part of Budapest's city, Corvin köz was the major resistance center, where in 1956 local youngsters fought the invading Russians with Molotov cocktails and guns they stole from soldiers to fight against Soviet tanks.
We will look at the reminders of the battles here and talk about the invasion of 1956 and its aftermath.

We walk across one of Budapest's most beautiful bridges to arrive to the foot of the emblematic Gellért hill where we find our next stop.

St Gellért Square is one of the most impressive squares in Buda. The square is named after Bishop St Gellért , also called the Martyr for Hungarian Christendom.
From here we have an excellent view of the Liberty statue - erected in 1947 in remembrance of the Soviet liberation of Hungary.

IF THIS OPTION IS CHOSEN

When Communism collapsed in Hungary in 1989, the city of Budapest was left with many public works of art that celebrated that era. In 1993, four years after the fall, the city government decided to save the statues rather than destroy them and the idea for the Memento Park was born.

IF THIS OPTION IS CHOSEN

During the year-long construction work, the building was fully renovated inside and out. The reconstruction plans for the House of Terror Museum were designed by architects János Sándor and Kálmán Újszászy. The reconstruction turned the exterior of the building into somewhat of a monument; the black exterior structure (consisting of the decorative entablature, the blade walls, and the granite footpath) provides a frame for the museum, making it stand out in sharp contrast to the other buildings on Andrássy Avenue. Inside the building, the Museum has a T-54 tank on display.