Budapest Guide
Várhegy and central Buda
Fishermen's Bastion
Address: Szentháromság tér
After the Mátyás Church, the most impressive sight in Várhegy is the Fishermen's Bastion (Halászbástya). An undulating white rampart of cloisters and stairways intersecting at seven tent-like turrets (symbolizing the Magyar tribes that conquered the Carpathian Basin), it looks as though it was dreamt up by the illusionist artist Escher, but was actually designed by Schulek as a foil to the Mátyás Church. Although fishermen from the Víziváros reputedly defended this part of the hill during the Middle Ages, the bastion is purely decorative. The view of Pest across the river, framed by the bastion, is only surpassed by the vistas from the terrace of Buda Palace, and the Citadella on Gellért-hegy. However, you might baulk at paying 400Ft to go up to the top level – tickets from the machine nearby (students and OAPs get their half-price tickets from an office beside Tourinform) – as the free view from the lower level is just as good.