Hungarian Parliament Building
Budapest was formed when three neighbouring cities merged in 1873 and soon after it was decided that a Parliament should be built in its heart as the political hub of the country. Construction of the Parliament Building was started in 1885 and the building was inaugurated on the 1000th anniversary of the country in 1896, and completed in 1904. The architect Imre Steindl was old and sick towards the end and died just a month before it was complete. His designs had been very advanced and included elevators, electric clocks and lights. The building’s facade is magnificent, decorated with eighty-eight statues of Hungarian rulers, pointed arch arcades and numerous gargoyles, spires and Gothic ornaments.
