Budapest Statue Park or Szoborpark is one of the most unique epitomes of Communism and a popular tourist destination attracting thousands of people from all over the world.
Budapest Statue Park is one of the remarkable tourist attraction sites of Hungary which bear a symbol of the Marxist regime in Hungary. It is one-of-a-kind museum in the world which bears a true homage to the stalwarts of Marxism. The Budapest Statue Park is an outdoor museum in Eastern Europe and is also known as Szoborpark.
History of Budapest Statue Park
The Statue Park of Budapest has an interesting past which is closely related to the communist rule of Hungary. After the communist regime ended in Hungary in the year 1989-90, the statues that were erected during this time all throughout the city, became the source of some political controversies. While one segment of people wanted to demolish these symbols of communist dictatorship, others wanted a better solution. It was finally decided that instead of demolishing these bronze and stone statues of the Communist leaders which had stood there for the last 40 years, all these statues were collected from the streets of Budapest and placed at the Statue Park for public.
The idea of the Statue Park of Budapest was first suggested by László Szörényi in one of his articles that was published in the year 1989. In December 1991, the Budapest Assembly decided that each district of Hungary should individually come to the resolution about the statues that were to be removed.There after the Cultural Committee of Hungarian Assembly issued
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a tender about the designing of the proposed site. The design of renowned architect Ákos Eleod was selected. Hence, the Statue Park was built on this suggested pattern by the Self-Government of Budapest in 1992-93 and was opened for the general public in the year 1993.
Structure of the Statue Park
The structure of the Statue Park in Budapest comprises of five semi-circles and has six statues standing in each of these circles. The statues which are exhibited at the park include some famous communist leaders like Marx, Dimitrov, Engels, Lenin and Ostapenko. Apart from these famous leaders, the park also has the statues of workers, Soviet Soldiers, martyrs, Republic of Council members and figures depicting significant communist events. Presently, a total of 42 statues have been kept for displaying at the park.
Antique shop at Statue Park
There is an antique shop near the Statue Park, Budapest from where one can buy small memoirs of the Communist regime. These include postcards, T-shirts, badges, CDs with communist marching music, Trabant models, cigarette lighters and flasks with hammer and sickle, bottles with KGB emblem and a variety of other products with the Communist symbol.
Visiting Hours of Statue Park
The Budapest Statue Park remains open on all days from 10 am to 5 pm and the park is closed on 25th December. The entrance fee is 1500 HUF for every adult and 1000 HUF for students. No entry fee is required if one has the Budapest Card.
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