THE HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT

The Hungarian Parliament Building is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, one of Europe's oldest legislative buildings, a notable landmark of Hungary and a popular tourist destination of Budapest. It lies on the bank of the Danube.

The construction was started in 1885 and the building was inaugurated on the 1000th anniversary of the country in 1896, and completed in 1904. About one thousand people were involved in construction, during which 40 million bricks, half a million precious stones and 40 kilograms (88 lb) of gold were used.

With its height of 96 m (315 ft), it is one of the two tallest buildings in Budapest (along with Saint Stephen's Basilica). The number 96 refers to the nation's millennium, 1896, and the conquest of the later Kingdom of Hungary in 896.

The building has 27 doors, 29 staircases, and 13 elevators. In addition to planetary, conference and session rooms, it includes over 200 offices.

The symmetrical arrangement of the building is designed to serve a double chamber system. The huge dome hall in the middle was designed for joined sessions. As Hungary resorted to a single chamber system at the end of 1944, the northern conference room (once serving the upper chamber) is often used for international conferences. The southern conference room came to host the chamber of deputies.

The Holy Crown of Hungary, also known as the Crown of Saint Stephen, was the coronation crown used by the Kingdom of Hungary for most of its existence. Since 2000, the Holy Crown is shown in the central Domed Hall of the Hungarian Parliament Building.

The Parliament also includes an extensive library of around half-a-million books and documents, handled by a modern information system.

The building can be toured in groups, led by guides, in English daily at 10.00, 12.00 and at 14.00 o’clock.

If you would like to visit the Parliament, let me know and I will arrange it for you. It is free but you need to sign up and you will need to take your passport with you. Entering the Parliament, you have to go through a security control - similar to the airports.