The story of this place
Laid out for the 1896 millennial celebrations, Hősök tere closes the grand Andrássy avenue with the Millennium Monument: a 36-metre column topped by the Archangel Gabriel, ringed at its base by the seven Magyar chieftains on horseback who conquered the Carpathian Basin. A sweeping colonnade behind holds statues of Hungary's greatest kings and leaders, from Saint Stephen to Lajos Kossuth. The square has staged the pivotal scenes of modern Hungary — the 1989 reburial of Imre Nagy, the executed leader of the 1956 uprising, drew hundreds of thousands here and signalled the end of communist rule. A UNESCO site, it anchors one of Europe's most monumental urban ensembles.