Hero Square/Hösök tere

The Main road running through the centre of Budapest is called Andrassy Utca, in the middle is the Octagon, from the Octagon down towards the Danube are all the designer shops and this is where I live. From the Octagon up Andrassy towards the city Park you'll find most of the embassy's and Hero Square.

Directly behind the cenotaph is a column topped by a statue of the archangel Gabriel. In his right hand the angel holds the Holy Crown of St. Stephen (Istvan), the first king of Hungary. In his left hand the angel holds a two barred apostolic cross, a symbol awarded to St. Stephen by the Pope in recognition of his efforts to convert Hungary to Christianity. In Hungarian it is referred to as the double cross or the apostolic double cross.

In 1989 a quarter of a million people turned out for the burial of Imre Nagy. He has a fascinating history, and is still seen in Hungary as a hero. Nikita Khrushchev had Nagy executed, as a lesson to all other leaders in socialist countries.

I don't come up here often as it's usually full of tourists, but its -6 and very open, so the tourists tend to look at it from the bus :-) The weird light behind is from the outdoor skating rink, I'm told it's the largest in Europe.