Hungary’s largest national flag dominates Budapest from the Citadel! – PHOTOS

The largest Hungarian national flag was raised on March 15 in Budapest’s famous Citadel, one of the city’s famous landmarks popular among tourists. The surface of the flag is 72 square metres, and it will stay there 24/7.

Citadel erected to opress Budapest

According to pestbuda.hu, the Citadel was built following the orders of the Habsburgs, after they crushed the 1848 revolution and freedom fight. The original goal of the building was to threaten the rebellious Pest, the centre of the revolution, the reform, and the independence movement. 

The fortress was built between 1851 and 1854 by Julius Jacob von Haynau, a commander of the Austrian Empire. Haynau was the Austrian general who ordered 110 executions after the fall of the fight for independence. For example, he executed the first Hungarian PM, count Lajos Batthyány, 13 generals of the Hungarian army, and Lajos Kazinczy, the son of Ferenc Kazinczy, the writer of the national anthem. 

Designed by Emmanuel Zitta and Ferenc Kasselik, the Citadel occupies almost the entire 235-metre-high plateau of the hill. The fortress is a U-shaped structure built around a central courtyard. It is 220 metres long, 60 metres wide, and 4 metres tall. It had a complement of sixty cannons. Thankfully, nobody ever used the Citadel against the fast-growing Hungarian capital – this was because of the compromise between Hungary and the Habsburgs in 1867.

• Read also: Things even Hungarians did not know about the 1848 Revolution

Famous tourist spot

Today, it is one of the symbols of Budapest and a famous tourist spot visited by thousands of foreigners every day. On March 15, the largest flag was raised in its yard, Várkapitányság said in a statement. The 6×12-metre flag flies on a 36-metre-high mast.

Besides raising the flag, professionals cleaned the building and analysed the state of the roofs and walls. Moreover, they built a leakage system, which would contribute to the building’s protection, turizmus.com reported.

The Citadel’s reconstruction will start soon, during which its outer walls will be revamped. Furthermore, its inner yards will be renewed, and a 6,000-square-metre park will be built inside. It will welcome visitors with a lake, a panoramic café, and many beautiful plants. Furthermore, the Western canon tower will receive new cultural functions. It will exhibit the Hungarians’ fight for freedom on 1,700 square metres.

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Source: pestbuda.hu, turizmus.com