Fishermen’s Bastion

Fishermen’s Bastion is a wonderful place for enjoying a view of the city.

Hardly any other building in Budapest is visited, admired and photographed by tourists from all over the world as much as the Fishermen’s Bastion. Romantic castle viewpointThe bastion is one of the emblems of the Hungarian capital and a significant architectural monument whose creation – like so many of Budapest’s memorials – was closely associated with the jubilee celebrations in 1896. The name of the structure originates in the former purpose of this place: in the Middle Ages there was a defence post here for the Budapest guild of fishermen who used to hold their market on Castle Hill. The Budapest architect Frigyes Schulek (1841–1919), who had given the Matthias Church its present-day neo-Gothic appearance, seemed the best architect for the Fishermen’s Bastion, which was built between 1895 and 1902. For the mighty bastion he chose Romanesque style which he effectively mixed with designs inspired by other historic building eras. The picturesque ensemble of the old-style fortifications of the Fishermen’s Bastion and the Gothic Matthias Churchare typical of the romanticized picture of the Middle Ages that emerged during the course of the nationalist movement in the 19th century, to which architects such as Frigyes Schulek also paid tribute. The Fishermen’s Bastion viewing platform commands a breathtaking panorama of the left bank of the Danube with Parliament and the Pest side of the city.