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Kerepesi
Cemetery
(Hungarian:
Kerepesi
úti
temető
or
Kerepesi
temető,
official
name:
Fiumei
úti
nemzeti
sírkert,
i.e.
"Fiume
Road
National
Graveyard")
is
the
most
famous
cemetery
in
Budapest.
It
is
one
of
the
oldest
cemeteries
in
Hungary
which
has
been
almost
completely
preserved
as
an
entity.
Kerepesi
Cemetery
(Hungarian:
Kerepesi
úti
temető
or
Kerepesi
temető,
official
name:
Fiumei
úti
nemzeti
sírkert,
i.e.
"Fiume
Road
National
Graveyard")
is
the
most
famous
cemetery
in
Budapest.
It
is
one
of
the
oldest
cemeteries
in
Hungary
which
has
been
almost
completely
preserved
as
an
entity.
Founded
in
1847,
Kerepesi
is
located
in
outer
Józsefváros,
near
Keleti
pályaudvar
(Eastern
Railway
Station),
and
can
be
reached
via
Budapest
Metro
line
2.
It
is
the
innermost
cemetery
of
Budapest,
although
it
still
lies
about
2
km
from
the
downtown
centre.
Kerepesi
is
one
of
the
biggest
National
Pantheons
in
Europe
and
the
biggest
outdoor
statue
park
with
its
area
of
about
56
hectares.
It
is
sometimes
referred
to
as
the
Père
Lachaise
of
Budapest.
The
cemetery's
first
burial
took
place
some
two
years
after
its
opening,
in
1849.
Since
then
numerous
Hungarian
notables
(statesmen,
writers,
sculptors,
architects,
artists,
composers,
scientists,
actors
and
actresses
etc.)
have
been
interred
there,
several
of
them
in
ornate
tombs
or
mausoleums.
This
was
encouraged
by
the
decision
of
the
municipal
authorities
to
declare
Kerepesi
a
'ground
of
honour'
in
1885.
The
first
notable
burial
was
that
of
Mihály
Vörösmarty
in
1855.
Until
the
1940s,
several
tombs
were
removed
to
this
cemetery
from
others
in
Budapest
–
for
example,
it
is
the
fourth
resting
place
of
the
poet
Attila
József.
The
cemetery
was
declared
closed
for
burials
in
1952.
This
was
partly
because
it
had
become
damaged
during
World
War
II,
and
partly
for
political
reasons,
as
the
Communist
government
sought
to
play
down
the
graves
of
those
who
had
'exploited
the
working
class'.
At
one
point
it
was
intended
to
build
a
housing
estate
over
the
cemetery.
Part
of
the
grounds
were
in
fact
handed
over
to
a
nearby
rubber
factory
and
were
destroyed
in
1953.
In
1958,
a
Mausoleum
for
the
Labour
movement
was
created.
During
the
Communist
period
(which
lasted
from
1948
till
1989
in
Hungary)
this
was
the
only
part
of
the
cemetery
highlighted
or
even
mentioned
by
the
authorities.
After
the
fall
of
communism,
Kerepesi
was
still
considered
by
some
as
a
Communist
cemetery
(for
example
a
son
of
Béla
Bartók
forbade
his
father's
ashes
to
be
interred
there).
The
cemetery,
with
its
extended
parks
among
the
graves
and
monuments,
is
today
open
to
the
public,
but
interments
have
ceased.
In
1874,
a
special
parcel
was
established
for
those
who
were
denied
a
church
funeral
(those
who
committed
suicide
and
those
executed).
The
cemetery
is
also
famous
for
its
Arcades,
built
between
1908–1911,
recalling
the
style
of
Northern
Italian
cemeteries.
The
artists'
sector
–
in
which
each
tomb
contains
a
notable
Hungarian
representative
of
the
arts
–
was
created
in
1929.
Kerepesi
contains
three
mausoleums
of
leading
Hungarian
statesmen.
There
is
also
a
notable
mausoleum
for
Ábrahám
Ganz
(iron-founder,
pioneer
in
Hungarian
heavy
industry),
built
to
the
plans
of
Miklós
Ybl
in
1868.
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