Gellért Hill

Gellert Hill, rising about 430 feet (140 meters) above sea level, is named for Bishop Gellert (Gerald), known for his mission to spread Christianity throughout Hungary. After the death of Saint Stephen, the first Christian king of Hungary, legend has it that the rebelling insurgent pagan Magyars sealed Gellert up in a barrel and hurled him down the side of the hill.

Atop Gellert Hill sits the Citadel, a structure built by the Austrian Habsburgs between 1850 and 1854 in order to better control the city after the suppression of the Hungarian War of Independence. This fortress, which sits at the top of the hill, was originally about 200m (220 yards) long with walls about 6m/20 ft high and up to 3m/10 ft thick.

When the Habsburgs left Budapest in 1897, ownership of the fortress reverted to the city. They tore down part of the walls as a symbol of victory against the Austrians. However, the Citadel was to be used again to house Hungarian soldiers.

The Citadel also played a role in World War II. Historians point out that it was from the Citadel that Germans held the city at bay.

Today, the old barracks have been converted to a tourist hotel and the structure mostly serves as a place from which guests can enjoy views of the city and the pretty Danube River below.

Erected atop the hill in 1947, the Liberation Monument pays homage to the Soviet soldiers that freed the city from the Nazis during World War II. A palm-bearing statue of a female stands about 40 meters (130 feet) in the air. Visitors will also find a statue of a Soviet soldier here as well as the names of the Soviets that died in battle at Budapest.

If you walk up the hill starting at the Gellert Hotel, you can see a cave church on your right. Founded in 1926 in a holy cave, the church was closed by the communists but opened again in 1989.

A the other side of the hill, near the Elisabeth Bridge is a statue of Bishop Gellert, the martyr after whom the hill was named. The monument was built in 1904 at the site where Gellert was presumably killed in the 11th century.

You can climb the Gellert Hill starting at the Elisabeth Bridge near the Gellert Monument, or you can take the route starting at the Gellert Hotel. If you prefer, you can travel up the hill by automobile or hop one of the city’s public buses (#27 starting at Móricz Zsigmond körtér).