The first Hungarian settlers arrived in Transylvania in 896 A.D. which, as part of the Carpathian Basin, was a large land sporadically inhabited by the remnants of Attila the Hun's people, the Avars. The pagan Hungarian tribes settled here, turned to the Christian faith and, led by the first Hungarian king Saint Stephen I , established the Hungarian state in 1000. After one thousand years, in 1896, Hungary celebrated the millennial anniversary of the formation of the state. The country had been preparing for this milestone event for years by making tremendous development of the country's infrastructure. They built new buildings, roads, railroad lines, industrial facilities everywhere in Hungary, and during this very prosperous era, the towns, large municipalities, etc. received a very characteristic and similar stylish architectural image all over the historic Hungary (dismembered in 1921 ). No exception was Budapest which also obtained its current appearance, i.e. the street networks, most of its neoclassical buildings, the first underground train in the continent, major railroad stations, many museums, national institutions, monuments during this time. Among them was the Millennial Memorial.

The Millennial Memorial was designed and built for the millennial anniversary of Hungary (1896) to commemorate the greatest figures of the Hungarian history. It hosts the equestrian statues of the seven Hungarian tribe leaders who came to Transylvania in 896, as well as 14 bronze sculptures of kings, liberation leaders and chancellors of the Hungary, but the monument also delivers a more global message about War, Peace, Work, Welfare, Knowledge and Glory.

The construction started in 1896 and the monument was consecrated in 1901, however, completely finished only in 1929. It consists of two major parts, which together form an 85 metres wide, 25 metres deep semicircular arcade structure, with seven booths in each half. The booths are divided by columns. The monument faces downtown Budapest at the top of one of the city's most beautiful boulevards, the 2 kilometre-long Andrassy street.

On the top of the left side of the arcades, the allegoric figures of Work and Welfare stand followed by the running chariot of War. On the right side, the chariot of Peace is moving calmly, and at the right tip of the arcade, the figures of Knowledge and Glory can be seen.

Underneath, in the booth section of the arcade come the statues of the Hungarian kings and chancellors in the following order from left to right (sculptors in brackets):

• 1) king Saint Stephen I. [Karoly Senyei],
• 2) Saint Laszlo I. [Ede Telcs],
• 3) Kalman the Booklover [Rikard Furedi],
• 4) Endre II. [Karoly Senyei],
• 5) Bela IV. [Miklos Kollo],
• 6) Charles Robert [Gyorgy Kiss],
• 7) Louis the Great [Gyorgy Zala],
• 8) Janos Hunyadi [Ede Margo];
• 9) Matthias [Gyorgy Zala],
• 10) Istvan Bocskai [Barnabas Hollo],
• 11) Gabor Bethlen [Gyorgy Vastagh, Jr.]
• 12) Imre Thokoly [Jeno Grantner],
• 13) Ferenc Rakoczi [Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl],
• 14) Louis Kossuth [Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl].

Beneath each regal figure, a low relief is mounted on the wall of the arcade showing a decisive moment of their reigning period. The reliefs (all by Gyorgy Zala) from left to right are as follows:

• 1) Saint Stephen receives the crown from bishop Astrik which was
• sent by pope Sylvester II, in 1000.
• 2) Saint Laszlo I. rescues a maid from a Cumanian (Kun) warrior.
• 3) Kalman the Booklover attaches Croatia and Dalmatia to the territories of the Hungarian Holy Crown.
• 4) Endre II. takes part in the Crusades,
• 5) Bela IV returns after the Tartar devastation.
• 6) The battle at Morva, in 1278, which consolidated the power of the Habsburgs in Austria.
• 7) Johanna receives Louis the Great.
• 8) Janos Hunyadi's victory at Nandorfehervar (Belgrade today), in 1456, which halted the Ottoman invasion toward the Christian Europe.
• 9) Matthias, the Hungarian renaissance king, with his scholars and heroes.
• 10) The Hungarians fight back the Turks again at the fortress of Eger, in 1552. The heroines of Hungary.
• 11) Jeno Savoyai ousts the last turk from Hungarian soil at the Battle at Zenta (former Yugoslavia today), in 1697.
• 12) At the Diet at Pozsony (Slovakia today), the Hungarian nobles swear to defend Maria Theresa's kingdom.
• 13) As the Hungarian Holy Crown returns from Vienna, the sovereign Hungarian state is declared again.
• 14) June 8, 1867, the coronation of Emperor Franz Joseph; formation of Austria-Hungary.

In the middle of the semicircular arcades, emerges a 36 metres high column with the double life-size figure of Gabriel archangel standing on the top. Made by sculptor Gyorgy Zala, Gabriel archangel is the central figure of the whole Millennial Memorial. On the capital of the corinthian column, which has acanthus-plant leaf ornaments (symbol of eternal life) around it, he stands on a large globe which represents Perfection. Holding theHungarian Holy Crownin his right hand and the "apostolic" double-cross in his left, he makes a symbolic move as he offers Hungary to Heaven; a similar token as he brought the news to Saint Mary about the birth of Jesus. The "apostolic" double-cross refers to Saint Stephen I (who offered Hungary to Saint Mary), and this allegoric representation of Gabriel makes the link between Saint Mary, the Hungarians and himself. With this beautiful bronze statue of Gabriel archangel, sculptor Gyorgy Zala won a Grand Prix prize at the Paris World Exposition in 1900.

At the bottom of the corinthian column are the equestrian statues of the seven Hungarian tribe leaders as they arrive in Transylvania. They are: Kond, Ond, Teteny, Tas, Huba, Elod and the head leader Arpad.

Ahead of the figures of the seven leaders lies the stone plate of the National Heroes. Looking like a large tomb stone, the plate carries an epitaph which says: "For the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the liberty and independence of our nation".

During World War II, the monument suffered serious damages which were later repaired, and in 1932, to honour the fallen patriots of the Hungarian history, the square hosting the Millennial Memorial was named the Heroes' Square.

Surrounded by the Museum of Fine Arts on the left side, the Art Gallery on the right, and the Millennial Memorial in the centre, the Heroes' Square is one of Budapest's most beautiful squares where the visitors can spend many hours walking around and reading the displayed information, just as if they were at an exhibition.

© 1995 Andras Szeitz

References:
1. Endrene Toth (ed.), Budapest Encyclopedia, Budapest, Corvina Publishing Co., 1970 (in Hungarian).
2. Istva Weller, Budapest. Panorama Publishing Co., 1979 (in Hungarian)
3. Hungarian World Congress, A Conference Edition. Budapest, 1992 (in Hungarian).

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