N. Kósa Judit - Szablyár Péter: Underground Buda - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2002)
Adam Clark's masterwork - the Tunnel under Castle Hill
Adam Clark's masterwork — the Tunnel under Castle Hill It probably occurs to few of the worn-out motorists inching their way through the Tunnel under Castle Hill in the rush-hour traffic how much longer it would take to drive all the way around Castle Hill. The Chain Bridge was not yet there to connect Krisztinaváros, or Christina Town, at the foot of the Buda Hills and Pest. Count István Széchenyi had thought it essential to build the Tunnel as early as 1845, but his initiative was swept away in the storms of history. In 1850, soon after the defeat of the Hungarians in the War of Independence, Councillor to King and Emperor József Ürményi established a share company to build the Tunnel, but construction work was not to begin before 10 February 1853. A sum of 300,000 pengő-forints was earmarked for the construction. Work was done under the personal supervision of the designer Adam Clark, who had also supervised the construction of the Chain Bridge. (His plans, which contain every minute detail, are treasured items of the Budapest Collection held in the Municipal Ervin Szabó Library.) Work started in three locations simultaneously, on both sides of Castle Hill and at ■ The lower drainage duct 37
