2012Arts - The Parliament - Miniature Sheet

The Parliament is one of the most beautiful public buildings in the world. Its special architectural solutions are processed and presented by a new philatelic series. In the chambers of the Upper House and the Representatives, the work started 110 years ago, two years before the official opening of the Parliament, therefore the first piece of the series depicts the chambers of the Parliament. In the middle of the miniature sheet, the segment decorated by the silhouette of the Parliament is surrounded by eight stamps depicting various details of the chambers of the Upper House and the Representatives. The miniature sheet has been issued in a special version, with embossing and lacquer decoration, too, in an exclusive holder. The Parliament framed a law on the construction of the Houses of Parliament (Statute LVIII of 1880), and conducted a design competition. Nineteen designs were submitted in the competition, from which Imre Steindls idea worked out in the spirit of historic eclecticism was realized. For the construction that lasted from 1885 to 1904 – except for the marble monoliths that hold the main stairs and were imported from Sweden – only domestic building materials were used. The first sod was cut on 12 October 1885 on the soil of Tömő-tér. On an average, one thousand people worked on the construction, 176,000 m3 of soil was moved, and 40 million bricks, half a million decorative stones and 40 kg of gold were used. The central element of the building is the dome, on the two sides of which there are the chambers of Representatives (todays Parliament) and the Upper House (today: congress hall).The main facade is on the Danube side, but the official entrance is from Kossuth square. Inside and outside, there are altogether 242 statues on the walls, and the building is decorated by outstanding frescoes and paintings, too.