Budapest is an historic city that overflows with attractions, so much so that it would be a very long holiday that took in all of them. This sometimes means picking and choosing the best of them – and the Fisherman’s Bastion is definitely up there with the best. It’s name may suggest something located by the Danube, with lots of space for boats and the spreading of nets or casting of rods. Instead, the Bastion is a castle that stands high on a hill with a panoramic view across the city below, with round, pointed turrets that make it look like something out of a Disney film. Those towers were in fact built as lookouts in the late 19th century, combining aesthetics with a simply superb vista. Indeed, while there was a castle on the site for centuries beforehand, the bastion in place now was entirely built between 1895 and 1902.
It is open day and night, with the balconies free to visit. Only a visit to the towers incurs an admission fee – and it’s well worth it. The purpose of building it was not a military one. Instead, it was constructed to celebrate the founding of Hungary by the Magyars a thousand years earlier in 1895. Symbolically, there is a turret for each of the seven tribes who came together to create a nation. The ‘fisherman’ part comes from the older castle being protected by the Fisherman’s Guild of Budapest in medieval times. Other features include the cafe on the bastion’s terrace, as well as the chapel, which was opened in 2013.
There are several statues around the bastion, including one of St Stephen King, John Hunyadi, and St George in the act of lancing the Dragon – one that will please visitors from England to Catalonia. The statues have all been restored, as has the stonework. All of this has been weathered over time and the bastion did suffer some damage in the Second World War, but it is in a pristine state now, making it a wonderful fairytale place to visit, and a grand Romanesque symbol of a city and a nation.
