The renovation of the Royal Riding Hall, the Csikós gardens, and the Stöckl stairs in Buda Castle have been finished before the expected deadline. This means that part of the gardens may join the Budapest Wine Festival as another location and visitors will be able to take a look at all of the reconstructed places.
The gardens will open to the public for the first time on Saturday and Sunday as part of Cultural Heritage Days.
Head of the prime minister’s office, Gulyás Gergely, said that a glorious work of art of the past has been restored.
The reconstructed Riding School of the Buda Castle District. Photo by Lajos Soós/MTI
Gergely Fodor, commissioner for Government Investments in the Buda Castle District, recalled that the original Royal Riding Hall, designed by Alajos Hauszmann and built by the best craftsmen of the time, was the ornament of the Buda Castle Palace for almost half a century from 1902. He recalled that even though the building could have been saved, the communist regime decided to demolish it.
He added that the authentic reconstruction faithfully followed the turn-of-the-century plans, but inside the Riding Palace the most modern technical solutions were installed so that the building can open as the most modern and elegant event center in Budapest.
The Stöckl Stairs at the reconstructed Riding Stables of the Buda Castle Quarter, in the Csikós Gardens. Photo by Lajos Soós/MTI
Gergely Fodor pointed out that they also ensured barrier-free access: two high-capacity lifts will take visitors from Palota út to the Csikós gardens, and one of the country’s most beautiful historic staircases, the Stöckl Staircase, which will connect it to the Hunyadi Courtyard, has also been rebuilt.
“Our aim is to give the Palace Quarter in Buda Castle back to the people, to bring the district back into the urban fabric of Budapest,” he said.
The Royal Box of the reconstructed Riding Hall. Photo by Lajos Soós/MTI
Photo by Lajos Soós/MTI
The immediate surroundings of the Riding Hall have also been restored, and all elements of the entire area will be renewed by spring 2022, with the completion of the Karakas Pasha Tower, Fodor said.
Photo by Lajos Soós/MTI
With the continued reconstruction of the Várkert Bazaar, the Carmelite Monastery, the Main Guard, the southern connecting wing of the palace, St. Stephen’s Hall, the Lovarda and the surrounding areas, the work is far from over. Work has already begun on the reconstruction of the Archduke Joseph Palace and the former Red Cross headquarters, and next week the reconstruction of the building of the General Headquarters of the Honvéd will begin, followed in November by the excavation of the Palace’s A building prior to renovation, said Gergely Fodor.
Featured image: the Royal Riding Hall by Lajos Soós/MTI