New Public Cemetery, Budapest

New Public Cemetery (Hungarian: Új köztemető or Rákoskeresztúri sírkert) is the largest cemetery in Budapest and one of the largest in Europe with an area of about 2.07 km2 and 3 million burials since its opening in 1886. It is adjacent to the Kozma Street Cemetery; the largest Jewish cemetery in Hungary. Its main building, which was constructed in 1903, has a 26-meter-high bell tower. In addition to its rich vegetation and wide avenues, the cemetery is famous for plot 301, where the martyrs of the 1956 revolution were buried. Today, an enormous modern monument by György Jovánovics marks their graves.

Új köztemető
Map of the Cemetery
Map
Details
Established1886
Location
CountryHungary
Coordinates47°28′22″N 19°10′45″E / 47.47289°N 19.17922°E / 47.47289; 19.17922
TypePublic
Size207 hectares (510 acres)
No. of intermentsapproximately 3 million

History and description

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The New Cemetery opened on May 1, 1886. The first funeral took place on August 6, 1886, when Victoria Závoly; the widow of a laborer was buried. The cemetery was expanded five times and now covers around more than 2 km2. To date, approximately 3 million people have been interred at the New Public Cemetery of Budapest.

Plot 301

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Imre Nagy, the Prime Minister of Hungary and 260 others executed by the Soviets in 1958, were buried in an unmarked grave in the New Public Cemetery.[1] Nagy was disinterred and given a state funeral in 1989.[2]

Notable interments

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See also

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Source and references

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  1. ^ Budapest Journal; The Lasting Pain of '56: Can the Past Be Reburied?, New York Times.
  2. ^ "1989: Hungary reburies fallen hero Imre Nagy". 16 June 1989.