|
Two kilometres west of Gellert-hegy in the hilly XI district is the Wolf's Meadow Cemetery ( Farkasreti temeto ; Mon-Fri 7am-9pm, Sat & Sun 9am-5pm; free), easily reached by riding tram #59 from Moszkva ter to the end of the line. Of the many poets, writers and musicians buried here, the best known is Bela Bartok , whose remains were ceremonially reinterred in 1988 following their return from America, where the composer died in exile in 1945. His will forbade reburial in Hungary so long as there were streets named after Hitler or Mussolini, but the return of his body was delayed for decades to prevent the Communists from capitalizing on the event. In 1998 the Hungarian-born conductor Sir Georg Solti was buried alongside Bartok, having forged a career abroad since he left Hungary in 1939 to meet Toscanini and thus escape the fate of his Jewish parents. Farkasreti also contains the grave of Matyas Rakosi , Hungary's Stalinist dictator, who died in exile in the USSR, as well as many wooden grave markers inscribed in the ancient runic Szekely alphabet. However, the real attraction is the amazing mortuary chapel by Imre Makovecz - one of his finest designs - whose wood-ribbed vault resembles the throat and belly of a beast. Be discreet, however, for the chapel is in constant use by mourners. Visitors keen to see more of Makovecz's work could pay a visit to Visegrad, an hour's journey north of the capital.
Your Tip for Wolfs Meadow Cemetery
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Wolfs Meadow Cemetery - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Wolfs Meadow Cemetery - visit the main Wolfs Meadow Cemetery forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Wolfs Meadow Cemetery webguide section below! Thanks.
|