New Public Cemetery, Budapest

Új köztemető
Új köztemető
Details
Established	1886
Location	Budapest
Country	Hungary
Type	Public
Size	207 hectares (510 acres)
No. of interments	approximately 3 million

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.

History and description

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

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]