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Photo: Yoav Dothan, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
The statue of the Hortobágy horseherd taming a wild horse used to stand in front of the Royal Riding Hall. It is the work of György Vastagh from 1901. The statue was displayed in the Exposition Universelle in Paris (1900). The damaged statue was removed during the 1960s, but it was later restored and erected in the western forecourt of the palace in 1983.
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Királyi lovarda
The Neo-Baroque riding hall was built between 1901 and 1903 in parallel with the construction of the Royal Palace. It was hit by a bomb in World War II, and was demolished in 1954. Rebuilt between 2017–2020. It's used as an event venue.
Királyi főörség
It was built in 1903 according to plans of Alajos Hauszmann. It was hit by a bomb in World War II, and was demolished in 1971. It was rebuilt between 2017–2021. There is an exhibition about history of the Royal Guard.
Mátyás kútja
This spectacular fountain shows a group of hunters led by King Matthias Corvinus together with hounds, a killed deer, Galeotto Marzio with a hawk, and Ilonka Szép with a doe. This group of people stands between fallen rocks with water running down into a basin. The fountain was made by sculptor Alajos Stróbl. The dead deer was modelled upon a majestic stag killed in 1896 by poachers in the forest owned by Stróbl.
Oroszlános kapu
Two pairs of lions guard the monumental gate leading into Lion's Court. The four statues are the works of János Fadrusz from 1901. The animals standing on the outer side of the gate are menacing, while the inner ones are calm and dignified. One lion was broken in two pieces during the war, but it was recreated in the 1950s.
Országos Széchényi Könyvtár
The library was founded in 1802 by the highly patriotic Hungarian aristocrat Count Ferenc Széchényi. Széchényi traveled the world buying Hungarian books, which he assembled and donated to the nation. In the following year the public library was opened in Pest. Széchényi's example resulted in a nationwide movement of book donations to the library. In 1808, the Hungarian National Assembly ("Diet") created the Hungarian National Museum to collect the historical, archaeological and natural relics of Hungary. The Museum was merged into the Library and for the last 200 years this is how it has existed, a national depository for written, printed and objective relics of the Hungarian past. In 1846, the Hungarian National Museum moved into its new building but it was not until 1949 that the Library became a separate entity again, with its current name. In 1985, the library moved to its new home at the Royal Palace. There is a permanent exhibition entitled “Library of the nation – a workshop of service” on Floor 5. The museum presents the intellectual environment and the actual objects used by librarians and readers between 1802 and 1985.
Nádori kripta
Burial place of the Hungarian branch of the Habsburg dynasty, founded by Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary. It is the only interior part of Royal Palace which survived the destruction of World War II and was not demolished during the subsequent decades of rebuilding. It is located under the former Castle Church, built in 1768 (and finally destroyed in 1957), in the central wing of the palace.