Széchenyi Chain Bridge ("Széchenyi Lánchíd") - Budapest, Hungary

Location:

GPS coordinates: Latitude 47°29'56", Longitude 19°2'37" (N47 29.93 - E19 2.62) Map

Stone pillar of Széchenyi Chain Bridge (Lánchíd)

The Széchenyi Lánchíd (in English "Chain Bridge") was initiated by Count István Széchenyi, designed by the English architect William Tierney Clark, and the construction was directed by the Scottish Adam Clark. The bridge was built between 1839 and 1849, it was one of the most outstanding technical work in its time. This was the first permanent bridge of Budapest (more precisely between Buda and Pest) and on the whole length of the Danube River in Hungary. At that time the closest similar building could be found in Vienna, Austria.

One of the stone lion sculptures of Chain Bridge (Lánchíd) at the Buda-side abutment, the building of the Hungarian Parliament (Országház) is "floating" over Danube in the distance

According to an anecdote the lion sculptures of the Chain Bridge have no tongue and due to this the sculptor who had been ashamed jumped into the Danube. To refute it the sculptor who still lived in the 1870s sent a message to the mockers. In reality the stone lions have tongues, but it cannot be seen from the sidewalk level.