The "Paris of the East" is how Budapest was described between the World Wars. Now it is ranked among the most beautiful capitals in the world. On Tuesday, July 4, 2000 at 14.00 we leave from CEU and the Grand Hotel Hungaria for a guided bus tour of the city. Highlights of the tour are: Heros Square, St. Stephen’s Basilica, the impressive Houses of Parliament, the Synagogue (2nd largest in the world), Gellért Hill with an unforgettable panoramic view of the city (bring your camera). We then travel to a charming artist village: Szentendre, which lies by the Danube 20km to the north of Budapest. Its narrow, winding streets, small squares, Serbian and Greek Orthodox churches, art collections, museums, restaurants, cafés and riverside walk make it one of the most popular place to visit from Budapest, particularly in view of the fact that it is conveniently situated at the terminus of a HEV railway. It is also a favorite ‘dormitory town’ of Budapest.
During the 14C, when the Turks were advancing and extending the boundaries of the Ottoman empire further into the Balkan Peninsula, many Serbs fled north to Hungary and settled in a number of towns by the Danube., including Szentendre. However, during the course of the Ottoman rule in Hungary the town became deserted.
Towards the end of the 17C the Turks were driven out of Hungary, but fighting continued in the Balkans and a second wave of Serbian, Albanian, Bosnian, Dalmation and Greek families sought refuge in Hungary. Large numbers settled in Szentendre under the leadership of Patriarch Arsen Crnojevic. At first their churches were built from timber. Later, as economic life improved, these were replaced in the second half of the 18C by stone churches built in Baroque style. Many of these churches built remain today.
It was in the 18C that Szentendre (St. Andre) became an episcopal see of the Eastern Church. The town’s merchants, who possessed privileges granted by the Habsburg, grew wealthy through trading activities. In the following century, many of the prosperous Serbian families moved back to their own homeland, so that today although Szentendre can be regarded as a ‘Serbian’ town, it has relatively few inhabitants of that nationality.
Szentendre's main square, Fo tér, is an historic ensemble of Baroque, Rococo and Louis XVI-style buildings. The Orthodox Merchant Cross in the middle of the square (see photo) was erected in thanksgiving that a plague had not swept through the town.
In Szentendre, the House of Folk Arts is situated
at Takoczi, a short distance west of Fo tér. It contains a display
of folk art from the local Pest county region. Across the road, on the
west side of Varoshaz, stands the Baroque Town Hall. The ground-floor rooms
were fashioned in the early 18C and then enlarged in 1811.
You will be able to tour Szentendre and visit what is of most interest to you, as we will have several tour guides available who are citizens and professionals in various fields within the town of Szentendre. Therefore, you will have the opportunity to interact with the people and experience the culture of Szentendre.
For an added bonus, we will visit the Korona Restaurant where you can become a chef! Yes, we will have the opportunity to make "Hungarian Gourmet Goulash" - a delightful and tasty treat indeed!
