Day 5.. A short break in Budapest

St Stephen's Basilica

St Stephen's Basilica is a Roman Catholic Basilica named in honour of the first King of Hungary. It is the third largest church building in Hungary and alongside the Hungarian Parliament building it is the tallest building in Budapest at 315ft/96 metres.

The Baslica took 54 years to construct by Jozsef Kauser and was completed in 1905. Part way through  the build, the dome collapsed and Kauser had to demolish the building and start again.
The style of the building is Neo Classical with a Greek cross ground plan and the facade is anchored by two bell towers.

Entrance steps into St Stephen's Basilica

Stained glass window

Interior St Stephen's

The Dome

The Altar

Side View, St Stephen's

A short break in Budapest..

As a special treat we booked a trip to Budapest on the recommendation of a friend who has been living here for the past 3 years.. The Hotel Mendosz (above) was situated in Jokai ter just off the main street  - Andrassy Ut (right). This street runs from Heroes Square up to the Basilica of St Stephen (Bajcsy Zsilinszky Ut), and is the place to be seen on in your best clothes (above right).

The Basilica of St Stephen

On Sunday, we had a whirlwind tour taking in all the main sights from Andrassy Ut to the Basilica then onto Elizabeth Bridge to see the extent of the flooding.  The Danube is closed to traffic as the water level is almost to the bridges making it impossible to pass under. The pleasure boats are all stranded their business curtailed until the water subsides. The Danuble almost broke its banks a couple of times while we were there but the military and volunteers manned the weak spots and used sand bags to contain the water.