When it went up in 1854, the Citadella was the most despised structure in the city. The Austrians built this fortress on Gellért Hill to keep Budapest under their thumb and prevent a repeat of the 1848 Revolution. When the imperial army withdrew from the fortress, the Hungarians made symbolic breaks in the walls to show that the building was no longer a threat. Rising above the Citadella is the 14m-tall Liberation Monument. The inscription, which once paid tribute to the Soviet Red Army, has been historically sanitised for your protection: it now honours those who laid down their lives for 'Hungary's prosperity'.
