Photos

20th August is a national holiday in Hungary. There are several ceremonies and celebrations all day long and the day is crowned with the fireworks above the Danube river at night.
This year me and my friend Filip (DFilip) decided to capture the fireworks. He brought his camera and I brought my tripod and we shooted by turns. We tried to choose the best POV so we settled the tripod on the Margaret bridge. From here you can see the Parliament on the left side, the Buda Castle on the right side, the Chain Bridge between them and the Citadella with the Liberty Statue in the distance. We arrived there one and a half hour before the fireworks but we were nearly late because there was already a huge crowd on the bridge.

I was standing here!

On 20th August we celebrate the "birthday" of Hungary and our first king Saint Stephen I. It was he who founded the Hungarian Kingdom 1008 years ago.

Saint Stephen I (Hungarian: I. (Szent) István), (967/969/975, Esztergom, Hungary – 15 August 1038, Esztergom, Hungary), was Grand Prince of the Magyars (997-1001) and the first King of Hungary (1001-1038). Stephen was born under the pagan name "Vajk", but was baptized a Christian and given the name "Stephen" (István in Hungarian) in his childhood. Following the death of his father, Géza, Stephen became the Grand Prince of the Magyars. He consolidated his rule by defeating his relative Koppány, who held a rival claim to the throne. Shortly afterwards, on Christmas Day in 1001, he received a crown from the pope and thus became the first King of Hungary. Stephen extended his rule in the Carpathian Basin with force by defeating several local chieftains. He maintained peace with the Holy Roman Empire during the first three decades of his reign, and later he would withstand the attacks of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor. Stephen established ten dioceses in his kingdom and issued severe decrees against pagan customs and in favor of the Christian faith in order to strengthen Christianity among his subjects. He organised several counties (vármegye) in Hungary, and his decrees could ensure internal peace in his kingdom. Based on his acts, he is generally considered as the founder of Hungary. Following the death of his son, Emeric, Stephen wanted to ensure the maintenance of Christianity in his kingdom and therefore named his sister's son, the Venetian Peter Urseolo, as his heir instead of his cousin, Vazul, whom he suspected of following pagan customs, and ordered him blinded. Stephen was canonised, together with his son and Bishop Gerard of Csanád, on August 20, 1083, and he become one of the most popular saints in Hungary.

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