Chain Bridge: Budapest’s Most Famous Bridge

5l1c2kb4eiThe Lánchid was the first permanent bridge over river Danube between Buda and Pest and was built from 1842 – 49. Count István Széchenyi had to wait a week before he could cross the river to bury his father. He then ordered to have a permanent traverse over the river being built for which he commissioned the Englishman responsible for London’s Hammersmith Bridge, William Tierney Clark, to design a bridge, and a Scotsman, Adam Clark, to oversee its construction. Legend has it that sculptor János Marschalkó forgot the tongues of the bridge’s lions. When he found out he desperately threw them into river Danube. Today it is the bridge that attracts the largest number of visitors. This is due to the fact that it is the probably most beautiful of the Danube bridges of Budapest and also because it is a pedestian only bridge. The Nazis have done considerable damage to the bridge, so the structure had to be repaired and re-inaugurated on 21 November 1949. Adam Clark is honoured in a small square at the foot of the bridge. The kilometre zero, the point from which all distances from Budapest are measured, is located here.

Directions: 1 Clark Ádám tér Transport: Bus 4, 16 or 105; tram 2 or 19.