"The motherland does not have a house." Thus wrote bitterly Mihály Vörösmarty, one of the greatest poets of the Hungarian heroic age of bourgeois civilization, in 1846. Indeed, through the hundreds of years that the grandsons of the conquering chieftain Árpád ruled the country the diet didn't have a regular house. But there was no need for it, as they - the prelates, the barons, the nobles and the burghers - were "the country". Where they walked, judged, debated - that was the "motherland". Since the time of St. Stephen, Hungary's legendary founder, the greatest turn of the wheel in Hungarian history occurred in Vörösmarty's generation - the Age of Reform and the Revolution of 1848 that followed. Spurred by economic need, social unrest and the flowering of culture, the hundredthousands of privileged in society and the millions in the lower classes coalesced into a historical community, the Hungarian nation. And this nation, now being consciously formed by the great men of the age - István Széchenyi, Miklós Wesselényi, Ferenc Deák, Lajos Kossuth, Ferenc Kölcsey, Sándor Petofi -, was very much in need of a physical home. As a counterweight to the royal palace rising high on Buda Hill, the Pest side of the Danube was chosen to symbolize that Hungary's destiny lay with popular democracy and not with royal whim.

Over the past thousand years the Hungarian diet has held its sessions from Sopron to Szabolcs, from Besztercebánya to Szeged, from Nagyszombat to Rákos field, and since the l8th century primarily in Pozsony, today known as Bratislava. In July 1843, the reform opposition tabled an old proposal that the legislature should be moved to the new capital, Pest-Buda. In September a parliamentary commission took the matter in hand, and after several fruitful discussions, the future Minister himself, Gábor Klauzál, declared that "because there is a place, the dream will become a reality". But in the ensuing decades only design competitions were realized where often not even prizes were awarded. By the time, forty years later, a law concerning the construction of a parliament was finally passed, the concept of parliament had changed dramatically. Not only was a completely different physical home envisioned but the notion of popular representation and the government responsible to it had a completely different sound as well by the end of the century. The competition announced in 1882 was won by Imre Steindl (1839-1902), a professor at the Technical University. The unanimous opinion of art historians and thousands of visitors alike is that theParliament designed by Imre Steindl is one of the happy exceptions of historical eclecticism.

The unique calcereous tuff caves of Castle Hill were created as an effect of the hot water sprigs at the dawn of the history of the Earth. These caves then served as refuge as well as hunting ground for the prehistoric man (the "Hunter of Buda) appearing half a million years ago. Later the small caves were connected to each other and also to the cellarage of the houses of the Castle District for economic and military purposes, and the complex thus developed into a veritable labyrinth. In the 1930s, as part of the wartime defence program, the complex of cellars was converted into a shelter large enough to accomodate as many as ten thousand people at time. Reinforced - and also disfigured - with concrete, it served as a secret military installation during the Cold War.

Visiting the biggest barrel of the world in the Triple Oleander Cellar

The biggest wood barrel of the world still in use can be seen in this cellar since 1974. The dimensions of the barrel are considerable. Its volume more than one hundred thousand litres, exacly 102.230 l, length 6.14 metres, diameter at head and bottom is 4.7 metres, at its belly 5.8 metres. The weight of the hoops amounts to 4 tons and its total weight is approximately 18 tons. After a short walk in the cellar the guests will come to the giant barrel, and that is where the wine-tasting will take place, tasting 2-4 kinds of wine.

György-Villa

György-Villa is a living testament to the culture and spirit of past ages, to its hard-working winemaker's everyday efforts and its builder's love for life. In Budafok these vineyards and orchards used to be watched over from Roman watchtowers, then at the end of the fifteenth century the area went into the hands of the Grey Friars of Buda, who dug and built a cellar here. The erection of the building began in 1827, and it also served as a symbol of the wine region's prosperity. It then changed hands several times and took its present shape in 1867 after a wine merchant called György Dory had it rebuilt for his girlfriend as a Christmas present. In 1872 the united capital started expanding at an enormous pace and as a result the once flourishing vineyards disappeared. After 1986 the building and the park went under a complete renovation. The company's premium wine family György-Villa Selection with its carefully selected and handled wines mature in the cellar of the villa in Budafok, which has centuries-long vinicultual traditions and serves as a wine museum. The wine specialities of György-Villa come from the Etyek-Buda wine region, famous for itswhite wines and the Villány wine region, noted for its reds. The György-Villa Selection with its fine varietal wines is one the most popular wine families in gastronomy. The villa, with its picturesque setting, houses a museum and is a host to series of programs, art evenings and lectures on viniculture. Lovers of good wines and culture are all welcome to the building, which houses and gave its name to the company's premium wine family.