March 04, 2008

Lions of Chain Bridge

The lions are restful in their watch over traffic of Chain Bridge. There are two on each side (Pest and Buda) of the bridge. These two are looking at the Four Seasons (from yesterday) on the Pest side.

The initiation for building the first permanent bridge between Buda and Pest was by the great statesman, Istvan Szechenyi and a generous noble Gyorgy Sina financed it. Work began in 1839 and completed/dedicated in 1849 (designer was the British Tierney Clark and the overseer of the construction the Scottish Clark Adam - after whom the square behind the bridge on the Buda side is named). The Lions for both sides of the bridge are the work of sculptor Marschalko Janos. The bridge was bombed by the German army at the end of WWII. The reconstruction was completed on the 100th anniversary of the bridge in November of 1949.

9 comments:

Clueless in Boston said...

The lions look magnificent. Are the lions symbols of Hungary, or the city?

George Townboy said...

Beautiful, Isadora. Do you know how old they are?

Janice Thomson said...

A very handsome pair to be sure. Lions are used a lot at bridges - I wonder why.

Isadora said...

Greetings and thank you for visiting! Perhaps the lions look like proper guards - powerful and majestic - and that is why they are often used in monuments.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful and amazing lions.
Giving a sense of power.

GMG said...

Wow, these lions look gorgeous; and your pics of the 4 Seasons much more impressive than mine... Would love to know how to post such BIG pics w/o too much trouble...
Have a great week!
Gil

Jim Klenke said...

beautiful picture and interesting history of the bridge, I am glad it was able to be restored.

Ming the Merciless said...

I love how European cities have such beautiful bridges. And this is a perfect example of it.

Lara said...

majestic!