During our explorations of the eastern part of Budapest, we walked to the  large and ornate synagogue, important shoe memorial, and historical subway line

Synagogue – The Dohany Street Synagogue, built between 1854 and 1859 in the style of Romantic and Moorish Revivial architecture, is the largest synagogue in Europe and second largest in the world, with a capacity for over 3,000 worshippers. Sadly, a Hungarian pro-Nazi party bombed the beautiful building and adjacent Budapest Jewish Ghetto in 1939. The six-year restoration project began in 1990 with funds provided by the Hungarian government, plus significant donations from Jewish Americans Estée Lauder and Tony Curtis. 

Not only does the synagogue complex include the Great Synagogue, but also the Heroes’ Temple, Jewish Museum, graveyard, and Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park. Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat and “gentile” businessman, worked with approximately 250 others to rescue about 60,000 Hungarian Jews during WWII. The most striking feature in the memorial park is the artistic weeping willow with the names of victims inscribed on the leaves.

Shoes on the Danube – This small, but attention-getting monument honors the 3,500 individuals who were shot after being ordered by Budapest’s Arrow Cross fascist militiamen to remove their shoes and stand by the river. After each of the 1944-45 executions, which included 800 Jews, the bodies were washed away by the river current and the Nazi-aligned gunmen collected the shoes to either sell or use for themselves. In the early 2000s film directory Can Togay and sculptor Guyla Pauer created the memorial consisting of 60 pairs of true-to-scale-and-fashion iron shoes of men, women, and children. 

Subway – Budapest Metro is the world’s third oldest subway and first underground on the European mainland. Line 1, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, began operating in 1863 and we rode in one of the bright yellow cars from the city center to Heroes Square and back. The historic electric cars and stations along the five kilometers of Line 1 retain their vintage charm. During the last 150+ years the Budapest Metro has expanded to 4 lines and now over 80,000 daily riders enjoy the convenience of the yellow, red, blue, and green subway lines. 

Most websites listing the 10 oldest subways systems in the world rank London Underground as #1 and Budapest Metro as #3. The ranking of the other historic underground systems varies from list to list. In addition to riding on the #1 and #3 oldest subways, we have also taken memorable trips on the undergrounds in Paris (usually ranked #5 or #6), Istanbul (considered #2 on some lists), and Buenos Aires (oldest in the Americas and often ranked #10 internationally). Maybe our future travels will include adventures on the other five out of 10 oldest subways in the world.