All Saints' Day

Szia,

I thought I should visit the big cemetery in Budapest on All Saint's Day to see what All Saint's Day is like, and also to see what it's like in Hungary. I woke up early that morning and as on the day before, everything was dead. Shortly after lunch I bundled up and got ready for the walk to the cemetery.

I had to walk a mile or so, and I saw almost nobody out on my walk. Maybe two people. No stores were open except a couple of flower shops, which were clearly trying to make some money off people heading to the cemetery.

The Only Thing Open on All Saint's Day

When I reached the cemetery things changed, however. Suddenly there was a flood of people in the street, all flocking toward the cemetery gates. The police were out directing traffic as if a parade was expected. I even saw the all-too-common site of a man just peeing on the sidewalk, not even bothering to walk behind the bushes that were right next to him. You know it's a busy public event in Budapest when people are peeing all over the place irregardless.

I noticed two things when I got inside the cemetery gates. The long line to get into the WC, and the cemetery's own flower shop.

Cemetery Flower Shop on All Saint's Day

I had not been to this cemetery before. I noticed a pretty little chapel inside the gates at the beginning of the winding road that takes you into the grounds.

Devotional Chapel in Budapest Cemetery

You can see the cops there directing traffic, or standing around, as the case may be.

I took the main road into the cemetery grounds, and the first thing I encountered was a large circle of graves dedicated to those who fell during the 1956 uprising. It was very moving and very sobering. I couldn't help but notice how many of the individuals were under twenty years of age, or, if over twenty, not much older.

To see the graves lined up like that repetitively made quite an impression. They all had flowers and candles on them. I noticed some elderly people placing flowers on them and crying. I assume they knew the ones who had died.

I walked around and looked at the names, and the ages. I thought about what it would be like to decide to kick out a foreign power for the good of your country, and to be willing to take up arms and stand up to tanks and Russian soldiers.

I walked on and a little way further down the path encountered a monument to the fallen, which was also heavily decorated.

I continued walking. The cemetery is huge and many small paths veer off from the large thoroughfares. I plan on visiting it again, and it was such a beautiful day, and so crowded, I decided to just wander around and see what I came across. There are some very famous people buried here, but I didn't attempt to seek out any specific tombs that day. I simply wandered around, seeing what I could see and enjoying the beautiful fall weather. The cemetery had beautiful old horse chestnut trees, and the leaves were yellow and falling and smelled crisp and spicy. It was pleasant just to be there. It was as if I was in a big park. Many of the tombstones and monuments are covered in lichen and moss and it was often difficult to read the names or the dates, so I didn't bother to record them, but simply took photographs of what interested me.

Here are some more photos.

This grave looked positively spooky---as if it was left so something could escape from it.

I mean no disrespect, but the figure in this monument looks as if it's doing yoga.

This is the tomb of Blaha Lujza who was a famous actress and singer.

Tomb of Blaha Lujza

These last two pictures are of the interesting architectural details of a random building right outside the cemetery walls. Budapest is full of buildings with features like this.

Interesting Building Outside Cemetery