Szablyár Péter: Step by step - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)
Gellért Hill. Ornamental Stairs to the Eponym
Gellért Hill: Ornamental Stairs to the Eponym As one is driving across Elizabeth Bridge to Buda, the view-blocking mass of Gellért Hill is eased by the waterfall trickling down the hill between two sets of steps and the statue of St Gellért standing there with a cross raised in blessing for more than a century now. It is in autumn that the sight is especially impressive when nature appears in the full splendour of its multicolour beauty. Even waiting in a car stuck in one of the frequent traffic jams building up on the bridge can be made less frustrating by the view, which is sometimes rendered that much more colourful by banners with romantic messages stretched out over the cataract (such as "1 love you Mary”). The view which took shape around the turn of the twentieth century and which is still there to this day received its character from the construction of Elizabeth Bridge (1897-1903). One of the major concerns troubling the Board of Public Works since its establishment was the ramshackle view of the Tabán, a townscape deemed unworthy of a metropolis. The intention to change things was shortly followed by deeds: the first resolution passed in 1878 provided for the demolition of 116 houses, which had in fact been undertaken by 1890. The other thread was woven into the fabric of the district's history by Francis ■ F/ightó of itain to Bióhop St Gellert, c igio 22
