Last week-end, as we were visiting a sister of my wife near Budapest, she brought us to see a monumental statue of Turul, a mythological bird of prey, on a hill above the city of Tatabánya, 60 km east of Budapest.
Turul is a mythological bird that is represented as a mix between a hawk and a falcon. According to the legends of the Magyars, a Turul appeared in a dream to the Magyar princess Emese.
The turul appeared to her in a dream and told her that from her womb a great river would begin, and flow out over strange lands. According to dream interpreters, this meant that she would give birth to a son who would lead his people out of their home in Levedia, and that her descendants would be glorious kings. Emese's son was named Álmos
Wikipedia.
Álmos is an ancestor to the Árpád dynasty that created the Hungarian Kingdom, after the Magyar emigrated to the Carpathian Basin.
Before World War I, there were 3 monumental statues of Turul in Hungary, each with wingspan of 15 metres.
Two have been destroyed and the statue in Tatabánya is the only one that still exists.
It is the largest bird statue in Europe, and the largest bronze statue in Central Europe.
Wikipedia
Turul is often represented with its wings deployed and with a sword in its talons.
In this monumental statue, Turul also has a crown above its head. It has probably been added during the restoration of the statue in 1992.
From the platform where the statue is located, you can have a good view of the plain and of the city of Tatabánya.
According to Wikipedia,
There remain at least 195 Turul statues in Hungary, as well as 48 in Romania (32 in Transylvania and 16 in Partium), 8 in Slovakia, 7 in Serbia, 5 in Ukraine, 1 in Austria.
Turul is often on top of memorial, in particular those of 1914-1918.
Here is one of these memorials in the village of Cserkút, near Pécs.
And here is another one in the town of Bóly.
On this webpage in Hungarian, you could see many representation of Turul in the Baranya County.
And, of course, there is a large representation of Turul in the Royal Castle in Budapest.
Turul bird on the Royal Castle, Budapest, Hungary
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