Top of the World
Szabadság Szobor, or the Freedom Monument, is located on the top of Gellert Hill on the Buda side of the city. The monument has the form of a woman, an allegory of freedom, who holds a palm leaf in raised hands. As the inscription on the pedestal says, the monument commemorates all those who lost their lives fighting for the independence, freedom and prosperity of Hungary. The statue is 14 meters high, along with the pedestal it measures 40 meters, and due to its location it is visible from almost anywhere in Budapest.
The Freedom Monument was created in 1947 and was originally dedicated to the memory of "Soviet heroes" who "liberated" Hungary in 1945. The design was made by Zsigmond Kisfaludi Stróbl. In his intention, the statue was to commemorate the pilot and politician István Horthy. During the revolution in 1956, the monument was partially destroyed. After 1989 it was renovated and the inscription on the pedestal was changed.
