Running City Budapest 2017

Stage 1

03 Pedestrian walkway in Margitsziget park  

47.518954, 19.043781 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Memorial stone by a tree between the musical fountain and children's
playground

Kind of sport indicated on the stone

Penthatlon

Historical background

You can't have a car ride on this island - it's closed for the private transport. But you cant still use a bus or any of the eco-friendly bikes and electrocars here. The Margit island is a little archipelago consisting of three little islands. It was even drifting downstream. Now it's not: the northern side of the island was strenghteden. And it also was raised on 2 meteres not to let the floods bog it up. It's modern name Margaret's Island got in XIV сentury after the Dominican order monastery built here by the king Bela IV for her daughter Margareth. The Turks in 1541 occupied the monastery and used the buiding for the Pasha's Harem. You can still see what's rest from the walls and the church not far away from another beautiflu landmark, the Margaret Island Water Tower. In 1796 József Habsburg, a fan of parks and gardens, arranged here a cozy villa for his young russian wife Alexandra Pavlovna. To take care of the island's plants, trees and flowers he invited a man from Schönbrunn gardeners' dynasty. The first brahcny plane-trees you see on the island were planted here in József 's period. Margaret Island with it's rose and Japanese gardens, thermal baths and the biggest beach in the city is one the best places in Budapest to spend some hours or even a weekend.

11 Dob utca 48

47.500846, 19.064251 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Graffiti on the building firewall

Which floor is the cat on?

2nd floor (3 as well)

13 Szent István park  

47.519132, 19.050947 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Monument To Raoul Wallenberg

How many human ears are there on the sculpture and the pedestal altogether?

3

Historical background

Here stands a monument to Raoul Wallenber — a legend man, who saved thousands of hungarian jews in 1944th. Born in a wealthy Swedish aristocratic family, Raoul got the superioir edication, he spoke several european languages and travelled the world. HIs powerfull granddad wanted him to be a banker or a business person, but Raoul didn't see himself as a moneymaker. During the World War II he emerged in Budapest with the mission to save lives of jewish people. He was always surrounded by wide range of of military men of all sorts, spies, Nazis, politicians and opportunists, dealers and fortune hunters. To accomplish his mission he used all means from bribery to pseudo-official Sweden documents for people from ghetto. He even bought and rented up to 30 houses in Budapest and declared them an Embassy compounds so that jews could live there. In 1945 he disappeared somewhere in Moscow prisons and believed to be killed in 1947th.

28 Lobby of Opera metro station in the direction from the city centre

47.502173, 19.059037 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Memorial plaque

Year (bottom line)

1995

31 Teréz krt., 58

47.509229, 19.057462 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Old intercom at A staircase (A lépcső)

Maximum flat number on the III floor

6

38 Szabadság tér

47.503845, 19.05025 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Miniature sculpture on the kerb. Hint: look for it on the side of House No. 17 in Szabadság tér

Animal

Frog

41 Király utca, 15  

47.499344, 19.058711 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Plaque with tenants’ names

Copy the name of the tenant from flat No. 21

csukai józsef

Historical background

Look though the square peephole in the door. The stone wall in the end of the courtyard is the memorial Ghetto Wall. The Budapest ghetto was created on November 29, 1944, and soon it was surrounded by a high stone wall. The last remaining section of the ghetto wall was demolished here in 2006 but two years later it was restored as а memorial.

63 Vörösmarty tér metro station  

47.496676, 19.050398 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Doors on the platform where trains depart from

Copy the door numbers in descending order

Historical background

While traveling on the M1 line, the oldest in Budapest, you can imagine yourself in the past. Almost everything here remained untouched. Well, they changes the railing and some other staff in carriages. The line is as straight as an arrow and on the final stops (like here) you can even see the train making a U turn. By the way there is another typical "runcity point" nearby. The Retro Transformer Kiosk stands right near the entrance to the undergound station and with some luck you'll find it in the middle of all this Christmas hype on the square.

65 Falk Miksa utca

47.512615, 19.048848 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Statue of Peter Falk's iconic TV Detective Columbo

What is drawn on Columbo's tie?

House (small town, Runcity logo)

10 Szondi utca, 22

47.509364, 19.061885 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

3 Pajamas. Breakfast Club

Signature of an official

Bonus checkpoints

25 Gyöngyösi utca, 47

47.547462, 19.081761 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Memorial plaque to the right of entrance V

Copy the third line from the top

Bonus time 42 minutes

Magyar gitáros

59 Dembinszky utca, 12  

47.505954, 19.076622 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Mirror in one of the showcases overlooking Ligetváros Remiz Sétány

Text NOT inverted in the mirror

Bonus time 15 minutes

Try a new view

Historical background

Ligetváros Remiz Sétány is a former tram depot. It was built in 1897 to serve the tram line connecting the Keleti station with the Városliget. After the World War II, the tramway rails were removed and this place became a trolleybus depot. In the nineties, it was closed, and the vacant premises were sold to a private developer.

102 Tatai utca, 95  

47.541377, 19.095072 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Set of wheels at the gate

Year on the red part of the wheels

Bonus time 42 minutes

1942

Historical background

No, you won't be able today to go inside and see all those beautiful locomotives, carriages and depots with turning platforms. No rides on railcars as well, sorry. The Railroad Park, one of the best in Europe, will be ready to welcome you only in April. For now let's settle for a sneak peak on the giant park territory and the gloomy water tower.

103 Остров Маргит (Margitsziget)

47.530813, 19.051563 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Texts on the plate about Szent Mihály kápolna church to the left of its entrance

Poland name of the bell master

Bonus time 30 minutes

Jana Strous

104 Szent Gellért tér meto station

47.482911, 19.054399 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Door to the staff area marked with a sticker depicting crossed tools

Door number

Bonus time 15 minutes

504

Stage 2

18 Papp László tér  

47.524406, 19.067518 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Monument to an athlete

Maximum year of those mentioned on the monument

2016

Historical background

Papp Laslo was once a downtown boy who used his fists only in backyard boxing championships. But after WWII Papp started as a trainee on the Optical Instruments Plant, where was an amateur boxing group. There strated his glorious path to the Olympics. Papp was an Olympic gold medalist three times, at middleweight in London in 1948, then as a light middleweight in Helsinki in 1952 and in Melbourne in 1956. Papp also was the European middleweight champion as a middleweight in 1949 at Oslo and at light middleweight at Milan 1951. He scored 55 first round knockouts as an amateur. His only dream was to win the World Championship as a professional boxer. But the dream stayed unaccomplished, the Communists didn't let him to fight as a professional for the Hungary on the championships.

24 Teréz krt., 55  

47.510433, 19.057095 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Western Railway Station (Nyugati pályaudvar). Support to the right from the door of MÁV Nosztalgia office

City name on the plaque at the bottom of the support

Historical background

This station was built by Eiffel & Cie, a company not known at that time and owned by two young engineers, Gustave Eiffel and Théophile Seyrig. Despite the established myth, Eiffel himself was not involved in the construction of the Budapest Nyugati rail terminal: it was designed by Seyrig and August de Serres.

26 Béké tér

47.530457, 19.0815 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Plaque explaining the meaning of the “ship” monument

What year is in the bottom of the table?

2000

27 The Timewheel (Időkerék)  

47.512684, 19.080327 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Plaques with descriptions of the monument to the right of the hourglass. Quote used in the description

Author of the quote

Agoston

Historical background

The Timewheel (Időkerék) is one of the world's largest hourglasses: sand trickles down from the top to the bottom through a small opening in the glass. At the end of each year the wheel is supposed to be turned 180 degrees, which must be done by manual power using steel cables and it takes roughly 45 minutes. Since 2011 (circa) The Timewheel is broken.

29 II. János Pál pápa tér

47.497379, 19.077389 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Bust in the park

Copy the Hungarian name of the profession of the person the bust is dedicated to

fótoriportere

32 Hermina utca 18

47.511871, 19.095479 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Plaque with the story about the building

Architectural style referred to in the first line

Neobarokk

49 Vajdahunyad vár

47.51461, 19.08345 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Bust at the southeast corner of Vajdahunyad castle

First digit on the pedestal

1

53 Munkácsy Mihály utсa, 23  

47.514149, 19.071577 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Oval plaque on the wall to the right of the entrance to the building

Which party is mentioned on the plaque?

magyar demokrata fórum, democratic party

Historical background

This nice art nouveau building faces on the Epreskert Art Colony. The hungarian name, Epreskerti művésztelep, can't be more romantic. It means "Mulberry Garden". It was an artists' colony in Budapest in the last decades of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. The colony occupied an oblong shaped block bounded by Bajza, Lendvay, Epreskert (after 1900 Munkácsy Mihály) and Kmety Street. The Epreskert was a municipal garden of mulberry trees on the outskirts of Pest which remained in agricultural usage until the 1870s. After the opening of Andrássy Avenue in 1871 the commercial value of the plot went up and urbanization began. In 1879 the municipal council donated a parcel on the corner of Bajza and Lendvay Streets to Adolf Huszár, a renowned sculptor who worked on prestigious municipal projects but was in need of a suitable workshop. Two years later Huszár built an atelier in fashionable Neo-Renaissance style and became the first artist to live there. In 1886 the block was divided into ten lots for ateliers. The Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts (now Hungarian University of Fine Arts) established its campus on the other side of Kmety Street. Normally now only the art students have access to this area. If you happen to be in Budapest during the Museum or Art night, you shoud use the rare opportunity to take a romantic walk among the high old trees and ateliers, and see the nicely renovated Calvary building from the 18th century and the remaining stones of the Church of Mary. For a really unusual sight these days, look for the Lenin statue on the Bajza utca side of the garden.

54 The Eastern Railroad Station (Keleti palyaudvar), Thököly utca entrance  

47.501315, 19.084969 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Mural in the entrance hall of the station by Thököly utca entrance

One of the characters of the mural is holding an object in her hand that will remind you of a prism. What is she holding in the other hand?

The Bridge

Historical background

Murals of the Eastern Station was painted by two artists, Károly Lotz and Than Mór. Lotz is a famous Hungarian artist of German descent. You can find his frescoes in the interiors of all the most important buildings of Budapest - the Opera and Parliament, the basilica of St. Stephen and the Ethnographic Museum. Tan More was more engaged in easel painting. His most famous work is "The Battle of Mohach" (it is interesting that it was painted when he lived in Paris).

58 Intersection of Szif and Nemeth Laszlo  

47.507799, 19.070762 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Crossed-out and current address plaques on the building

Redraw or write down the name of the sign which distinguishes the house numbers on the plaques

/ или стрелочка

Historical background

There is a local law obliging keeping old adrress plates on the buildings for at least two years after the renaming. The old ones should be crossed with a thick red line. We, city guests and explorers, can only thank the city managers for beeing that kind!

20 Futó utca, 37

47.486199, 19.074485 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Cafe Frei on the second floor of Corvin Plaza shopping centre

Signature of an official

Stage 3

04 Bródy Sándor utca, 15

47.492697, 19.066359 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

House with a chimney sweep. A plaque over the gate to the yard

Copy the second word from the top line

Mozgas

05 Apáczai Csere János utca, 7

47.494897, 19.050057 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Sign with the water level mark during one of Budapest floods

Which year was this flood in?

1838

19 Ferenczy István utca, 26

47.492849, 19.060104 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Remains of the medieval walls surrounding Pest

Number in the last line of the inscription on the memorial plaque

13

30 Underground section of Fővám tér transfer hub  

47.485849, 19.057846 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Board with a legend to exit D

Transport number with a letter shown on the board

979 / 979A

Historical background

The Fővám tér (The Customs Sqaure) is well-known for the gorgeous Budapests' Market. The building had a truly complicated bio. There was a fire during construction, there were the bombings of the World War II as well, and the reconstruction it the 90ies, and we can't tell you what was the most imporntant and contributed mostly to the building's look. This huge and shiny mastodont has several levels, with fruits and veggies, with refrigiratios filled with meat and fish, and with cafes and traditional hungarian souvenirs. The other significant landmark here is the M4 station. The Fővám tér and the Szent Gellért tér stations created by Spora Architects got several designer awards for their modern look and symbolic post-modern meaning. The architects call these stations the Ungergroung City Social Utopia.

43 Papnövelde utca, 5-7

47.490884, 19.058018 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

University Church of St Mary the Virgin. “Historical Landmark” (Műemlék) memorial plaque

Third line from the bottom. Year

1776

45 Bajor Gizi park, 1

47.470168, 19.070399 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Railing at the last turn of the ziggurat

Word on the lock with a prism

látkép

51 Szabó Ervin tér  

47.489458, 19.063919 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Green second-hand book cart on the square

Cart number

5

Historical background

A fashionable building near to a green cart with second-hand books is the Erwin Sabo Central Library (Szabó Ervin tér 1). Once upon a time it was the well-known and loved by all the Budapest’s high society palace of the Wenkhein family. The marriage of Christina and Fridesh Wenkheim was scandalous. They were cousins and truly in love with each other, but all their relatives were against this misalliance. Christina was the heiress of a huge fortune and raised like a princess, but for everyone she was only a сhild of sin. Her dad was a Count, but her mother was a servant’s daughter. Like in fairytales, Christina and Arthur married against all the odds, and later all those people who were against this marriage became frequenters of their dancing routes in this building by architect Arthur Meinig. Now the Central Library is one of the best places in the city to spend some hours reading a book and having a cup of coffee in an outstanding, fairytale, almost Disney-ish environment.

56 Square in front of Groupama Aréna

47.476608, 19.095054 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Bird holding a sports projectile in its talons

How many stitches does the projectile have?

6

60 Orczy út, 37

47.48665, 19.092532 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Figurine of a mechanic on the fence

Woman's name written in black marker

Margrarita

61 Baross utca

47.488948, 19.080935 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Muzsikus cigányok parkja

How many fiddlesticks are the on the musicians’ commemorative stelae?

5