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Like the National Library on Varhegy, the Hungarian National Museum ( Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum ; May-Sept Tues-Sun 10am-6pm; Oct-April Wed-Sun 10am-4pm; 250Ft) was the brainchild of Count Ferenc Szechenyi, who donated thousands of prints and manuscripts to form the basis of its collection in 1802. Shortly after it opened, this Neoclassical edifice, by Mihaly Pollack, became the stage for a famous event in the 1848 Revolution, when Sandor Petofi first declaimed the National Song with its rousing refrain - "Choose! Now is the time! Shall we be slaves or shall we be free?" - from its steps. Ever since, March 15 has been commemorated here with flags and speeches. By way of amends for losing the Coronation Regalia in 2000 (now on display in the Parliament building), the National Museum is undergoing a major refit, set to finish in 2003. This has so far resulted in two new subterranean levels, devoted to medieval and Roman sculptures (the latter starring a mosaic floor from a villa at Balacapuszta). Also accessible from the foyer is a darkened room displaying King Stephen's silk coronation robe. The upper floor covers Hungarian history from prehistoric times until the present day, with treasures and curios ranging from Renaissance pews to Freemasons' regalia, and Stalin kitsch to multiparty election posters, while in room 18 a loop of movie footage emphasizes the similarities between Fascism and Communism. Brody Sandor utca, beside the museum grounds, seems an unlikely place for a revolution to start - yet this is where the Uprising began, outside the Radio Building at no. 7, when AVO guards fired upon students demanding access to the airwaves, an act which turned the hitherto peaceful protests of October 23, 1956, into a revolt against the secret police and other manifestations of Stalinism. Street fighting was especially fierce around Kalvin ter , on the far side of the museum at the junction of Ulloi ut and the Kiskorut, where insurgents battled tanks rumbling in from the Soviet base on Csepel island. It seems almost miraculous that the ornate reading room of the Szabo Ervin Library (Mon, Tues & Thurs 9am-9pm, Sat & Sun 9am-1pm; free), on the corner of Baross utca, survived unscathed. Walk up Reviczky utca behind the library and you reach Mikszath Kalman ter, a wonderland of picturesque backstreets.
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