page_title: Fisherman's Bastion
section_title: The stairs
hierarchical_section_title: Fisherman's Bastion / Architecture / The stairs
caption_attribution_description: English: Hungary - Budapest
context_page_description: The Halászbástya or Fisherman's Bastion is one of the best known monuments in Budapest, located in the Buda Castle, in the 1st district of Budapest. It is one of the most important tourist attractions due to the unique panorama of Budapest from the Neo-Romanesque lookout terraces. The Fishermen's Bastion's main façade, parallel to the Danube, is approximately 140 meters long, of which the southern aisle is about 40 meters long, the north is 65 meters long, and the ornate central parapet is 35 meters long. Its seven high-pitched stone towers symbolize the seven chieftains of the Hungarians who founded Hungary in 895.
  It was built between 1895 and 1902, in Neo-Romanesque style, on the base of a stretch of the Buda Castle walls, by architect Frigyes Schulek, who was also responsible for the restoration of the Matthias Church. Several historians say that in the Middle Ages this part of the castle walls was protected by the guild of fishermen, who lived under the walls in the so-called Fishtown. Since 1987 it has been part of Budapest's World Heritage Sites as part of the Várkerület District.
context_section_description: Schulek originally intended to built three-stage staircases reaching the Danube. Until the Fisherman's Bastion was built, in the place was a long stretch of narrow and dark Jesuit stairs, which reached the southern wall of the bastion. It was possible to access the Jesuit stairs from the Fishtown, which was unsuitable for major, larger traffic. Schulek altered the gateway, widening the stairs to 8 meters in some places, and its lower gate was accentuated with a stylish gable, incorporating an original lionic relief from a Romanesque church excavated during the rampart work. Simple stairs made of granite stone are placed on a brick foundation, and only the so-called "stairs" used on the railings were used. It was decorated with truncated, pierced forms with Romanian style features. On the right and left of the staircase, a statues of warriors representing different weaponry of the 10th century Árpád age were placed guarding the gate (at the top of the stairs, under the arch). Four of the seven leading statues on the main stairs were carved by Franz Graf Mikhail (Ferenc Mikula 1861-1926), a sculptor born in Debrecen and educated in Vienna. Also he made the pedestal, the lions and the reliefs of the statue of St. Stephen.
caption: Árpád-era warrior statues
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