Prince of Buda and Princess of Pest Statue – Budapest, Hungary - Atlas Obscura

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Prince of Buda and Princess of Pest Statue

On Gellért Hill, this statue depicts the tragic tale of lovers divided by the Danube. 

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The Prince of Buda and Princess of Pest is a small sculpture positioned on Gellért Hill overlooking the city below.

For many years, the towns of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest were separate and independent. In 1873, they were joined together and given the new name Budapest. The bronze and stone sculpture is meant to symbolize the unification of the city.

The statue tells a beautiful but tragic tale of Prince Buda and Princess Pest, two lovers divided by the Danube. It depicts Prince Buda and Princess Pest reaching out to embrace over the river separating them, it represents the two halves of the city becoming unified. Buda is the hillier, greener and older side of the now joined city, while Pest was the flatter more dynamic side of the city.

The sculpture by Martha Lesenyei was installed in 1982 and stands near the Garden of Philosophers. From the position of the statue, visitors are able to take in all the famous landmarks of Budapest, now a unified city.

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