Going further to Buda side we passed by Budapest University and approached to the famous Chain bridge which connects Buda and Pest side of the city.
This bridge was the first permanent span across the Danube being built between 1842 and 1849. Designed by English engineer, William Tierney Clark, with construction overseen locally by Scot, Adam Clark (the Square at the Buda end of the bridge is named after him), one of its first uses was to allow the Hungarian Army of Independence to retreat from the advancing Austrians in 1849. The Austrians then tried to blow up the bridge with explosives, but luckily the charges failed to detonate.
Sadly almost 100 years later, the German army succeeded in collapsing the centre span during fierce fighting towards the end of World War II. The bridge was quickly rebuilt and has been periodically renovated (which makes driving in Budapest an even greater chore as the bridge usually has to be closed).
On the plus side, it's a good place take photographs and is beautifully floodlit at night. Shame about the unsightly graffiti though.
No comments:
Post a Comment