Remembering the Soviet Legacy in Budapest, Hungary
Cemeteries are one of the most unique ways to explore the history and personality of a city. Budapest’s most famous resting ground, Kerepesi Cemetery, is a sprawling, ramshackle park, seemingly miles away from the frenetic main thoroughfares. The Art Nouveau architecture that dominates the city is present here, in the details of old tombstones being slowly reclaimed by ivy. Walk straight down the central pathway and you cannot miss the formidable Pantheon of the Working Class Movement. This tribute to Soviet rule was so shoddily put together that it began falling apart almost as soon as it was finished. Now it sits collecting dust, a neglected relic of the past in a city moving towards the future.
The day was hot, the sun was bright and the sky was a vibrant blue. As I meandered through Kerepesi Cemetery, a place I find both eerie and magical, I came across this large statue. There are many statues here, but this one grabbed my attention from afar and pulled me in. The stone was a blazing white, so white it almost glowed. There were two horses, each boldly charging forward on their hind legs. The rider of each horse is covered only by a long flowing cape and carries an expression of contentment and purpose. There were also two men, or perhaps they are ghosts, that appear to be flying forward, guided by a mighty cross. I gazed at this statue for a long time, circling it many times to admire its mystery and beauty.
It may seem odd to say, but Kerepesi Cemetery is one of the best parks in the city. While other city parks are packed with people on any given sunny day, most of the folks at Kerepesi are unobtrusively underground, and likely to stay that way. Aside from the occasional doddering widow and the smattering of tourists in the know, you’ll pretty much have the place to yourself. And what a place. Most Hungarians of note are buried here, and their monuments range from multi-story mausoleums to graceful Art Nouveau bronzes. The rear third of the cemetery is thickly forested, and paths winding through the trees provide glimpses of tombs crumbing under the weight of their clinging ivy, a melancholy reminder of the slow ruin of time – as though you needed one in the midst of so many dead. Spring brings carpets of flowers to the broad swathes of green, autumn trees blaze in reds and yellows, and in winter snow piles on lonely tombs, and the white stillness is an oasis of silence in the midst of the raging city.
Cemeteries are one of the most unique ways to explore the history and personality of a city. Budapest’s most famous resting ground, Kerepesi Cemetery, is a sprawling, ramshackle park, seemingly miles away from the frenetic main thoroughfares. The Art Nouveau architecture that dominates the city is present here, in the details of old tombstones being slowly reclaimed by ivy. Walk straight down the central pathway and you cannot miss the formidable Pantheon of the Working Class Movement. This tribute to Soviet rule was so shoddily put together that it began falling apart almost as soon as it was finished. Now it sits collecting dust, a neglected relic of the past in a city moving towards the future.
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