The children were most excited about the “dog repertory” during the walk organized in the English park of the University. They proudly sat on the backs of one of the nine ancient Hungarian dog breeds, while their parents took selfies with them. Among the adult visitors, there was someone who had graduated from here in the 1980s. They remembered the large animal stable on the ground floor of Building A and the blacksmith workshop behind. During their studies, Ferenc Kovács was in charge of the university, and they nostalgically lingered near the statue of the rector. Another visitor used to come here to play football in the evenings. Their curiosity brought them on this walk, wanting to see the campus during the daytime.
Adél Váradi, the chief curator of the University, also has stories about the park, the buildings, the ceramic reliefs, and the sculptures. She talked about Lavoisier who systematized chemical knowledge, and the guillotine, the rare pomegranate tree in the Hungarian climate, and the park’s other Mediterranean fruit, the fig. She also mentioned the Soviet soldier who wanted to meet József Marek during the siege of Budapest, because he learned internal medicine from the Hungarian scientist’s book, which had been translated into 16 languages.
On the occasion of Cultural Heritage Day, the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest regularly organizes walks in the campus area, built during the decades of the Monarchy, in the neo-Renaissance style, which is considered the masterpiece of its time. The designer was Imre Steindl, the later architect of the Hungarian Parliament, and the building ceramics were made in the Zsolnay Manufacture, while the painted stained glass windows were created in the workshop of Miksa Róth.
