CHAIN BRIDGE, BUDAPEST

 The Chain Bridge in Udapest is one of the most important symbols of the city.

Until it was built in 1849, the two sides of Budapest could meet each other only when winter came and the river froze. 🙂 In the spring, he managed the situation with floating bridges. There are many bridges connecting the Buda and Pest sides right now, but none of them is a Chain Bridge in terms of beauty or culture. 🙂

The Hungarian name of the bridge is Lánchíd, in English it is Chain Bridge. The first fixed bridge connecting the Buda and Pest sides and one of the engineering marvels of its time.

From the Middle Ages until 1849, there was a pontoon bridge connecting Buda and Pest on the Danube and was built only between spring and autumn. There was no need for a bridge as the river froze in winter. But there were times when the weather suddenly changed and the ice on the river melted. In such cases, people would be stuck in their own lashes.

In 1820, when Count István Széchenyi had to wait a week to go to his own father's funeral, the idea was to build a bridge that would permanently connect Buda and Pest.

Count István Széchenyi was the bridge's most enthusiastic defender and founded an association to finance it. Since the biggest support came from the Greek-born merchant Georgios Sinas, who had a considerable land share in the city, his name was written on the southwestern side of the foot of the bridge on the Buda side.

Finally, the construction of the Chain Bridge, which passes through Clark Ádám Square on the Buda side and István Square on the Pest side, in other words the Széchenyi Bridge, which is referred to as Lánchid or even the father of the idea, was started.

The bridge was designed by British engineer William Tierney Clark. Engineer Clark built this bridge by enlarging the scale of a bridge he had built in England before. Parts of the bridge were manufactured in England and brought here by sea in parts from England for final assembly.

Finally, the Buda and Pest sides were permanently connected for the first time, with the Chain Bridge when it opened in 1849. At its time, it was one of the largest bridges in the world with a center measurement of 202 meters. With its suspension structure, it was a complete engineering genius for those times.

An interesting detail is that the Scottish engineer who built the bridge was also named Clark, just like its construction. However, the two were not related by blood.

According to a famous urban legend, engineer Clark was so proud of his work that he claimed that not a single fault could be found on the bridge. Then a little boy said that the giant lion statues at the end of the bridge had no language. Thereupon, the engineer was so embarrassed that he committed suicide by jumping off this bridge. Of course this is just an urban legend. Both lions actually have tongues (it's not possible to see them only from where people are looking), and it's hard for someone to die by jumping from this bridge.