These monsters, maidens, and heroes have watched history unfold from high above the streets of the Hungarian capital.
A crumbling facade from a residential building constructed in 1905. The dragon-wrangling hero overlooks Budapest's City Park.
A figure carrying a torch of freedom atop the mausoleum of Lajos Kossuth in Kerepesi Cemetery
Kossuth was a lawyer and politician who played an instrumental role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The "father of Hungarian democracy" is one of only a few non-Americans honored with a bust inside Washington's Capitol building.
A limestone figure looks out over the Danube River from her perch on the corner of Hungary's Interior Ministry building.
The building was completed in 1913 as the headquarters of a Hungarian bank.
A frumpy king in a top-story alcove near Budapest Castle
Little is known about the stone carving, but one local expert believes it may have advertised a King Restaurant that once existed in the ancient hilltop neighborhood.
A reclining rooftop character stands opposite St. Stephen's Basilica.
Little is known about the figure except its inauspicious date of completion in 1939. The world war that broke out that year, which devastated much of Budapest, apparently left the sculpture untouched.
A statue of Hermes looks into the camera from his perch atop the Fonciere Palace, built in 1882 to house an insurance company.
The building once boasted a spectacular cupola ringed with giant griffins. After it was heavily damaged during World War II, the cupola was demolished.
Gargoyles high on the steeple of the Matthias Church bask in the morning sunlight.
A dragon-pummeling bronze figure makes up part of Budapest's Liberty Monument.
The 1947 ensemble initially honored the Soviet soldiers who died fighting their way into Budapest during World War II. After Hungary's 1989 anti-communist revolution, the monument had its inscription changed to commemorate all of those who have died for the country's freedom.
Luke the Evangelist in his alcove on the dome of St. Stephen’s Basilica
A lady of liberty sits atop an eagle on the corner of the New York Palace.
The building was constructed in 1894 as the head office of the New York Life Insurance Company and featured the "most beautiful coffeehouse in the world" on its ground floor. Today, the landmark operates as a luxury hotel.
A statue of Princess Elizabeth of Hungary atop the church named in her honor in eastern Budapest
The rooftop monument captures one of the miracles of the 13th-century saint's life, when she was said to be sneaking bread from the castle to give to the poor. When challenged by her husband, she opened her cloak to reveal roses that had appeared in place of the stolen bread.
Birds of prey support a globe atop the Anker Palace, which was completed in 1910 for a Viennese insurance company.
The building conceals a spectacular luxury apartment but is infamous for its rundown exterior.
Above the entrance to Keleti train station, the gods of water (left) and fire flank a woman wielding steam, the combination of the two elements.
Steam-powered trains ruled the rails when the sculpture was made in 1884.
A raven with a ring in its beak looks east over the Danube from its golden perch on the Matthias Church.
The 15th-century King Matthias was known as the "Raven King" for the bird depicted on his coat of arms. According to one legend, Matthias became associated with ravens early in life when one of the birds stole his ring and the young royal chased it down "and slew him, retrieving the ring."
A moment of learning is captured in a sculpture atop a girls elementary school built in 1913 alongside the Danube in northern Budapest.
Today, the building houses a school belonging to Hungary's Technical Vocational Training Center.
Winged dragons hold the lanterns of Budapest's Margaret Bridge at dusk.
The bridge was inaugurated in 1876 and a year later Hungarian poet Janos Arany penned a verse about a spate of suicides that took place at the new structure.
Roland, a legendary eighth-century knight, stands atop the mayor's building in Ujpest, a suburb in northern Budapest.
A local historian wrote that Roland's presence above the building's entrance warns those entering "that in this building regulations designed to protect the citizens must be observed at all times."
A golden statue of Mary stands atop a church spire in southern Budapest.
The 6.5-meter-tall figure was emplaced in 2003 in honor of the so-called Apparitions of Fatima, when three Portuguese shepherd children claimed to have seen Mary appear before them shining "brighter than the sun" in 1917.
A "turul" -- a giant bird of prey in Hungarian mythology -- spreads its wings over the rising sun.
A cheerful gargoyle on the spire of the Matthias Church
Budapest's Archangel Gabriel is depicted holding a cross and the holy crown of St. Stephen, Hungary's first king.
The small cross atop the crown is bent in imitation of the real crown, which is currently kept in the parliament building.
The archangel viewed while illuminated at night.
A sphinx watches over the streets of central Budapest from the corner of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music.
The academy building was erected in 1907 and today houses one of the world's most prestigious musical schools.