The stone zero
A three-metre block carved as the numeral zero — the point from which every Hungarian road distance is measured.
Qqriq — CC BY-SA 3.0 · FOTO:Fortepan — ID 99383: Adományozó/Donor: UVATERV. archive copy at the Wayback Machine — CC BY-SA 3.0 · FOTO:Fortepan — ID 99381: Adományozó/Donor: UVATERV. — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Envagyokabela — CC BY-SA 4.0
It is the reference point from which all Hungarian road distances are measured. When a sign says Budapest is so many kilometres away, the measurement is to this stone. Most countries have an equivalent point in their capital.
No. But it is in the square you will inevitably pass if you cross the Chain Bridge or take the funicular — so stop for five minutes while you are there. Do not rearrange your route for it.
No — the present one dates from 1975, designed by the sculptor Miklós Borsos. Simpler markers stood at roughly the same spot from the 19th century, when Hungary's road network was first organised.
Everything around it: cross the Chain Bridge from Pest, stop at the stone, then go up by funicular or through the Castle Garden Bazaar to Buda Castle. The square is the hinge between the city's two banks.
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The Zero Kilometre Stone is a three-metre block carved as the numeral zero, standing on Clark Ádám tér at the Buda end of the Chain Bridge. Every distance on Hungary's roads is measured from this point: each road sign in the country tells you how far you are from this particular stone. The present stone dates from 1975 and was designed by the sculptor Miklós Borsos; it is not the first. Simpler markers preceded it from the 19th century, when Hungary's road network was organised. The choice of site is logical: this is where the first permanent bridge over the Danube meets the first tunnel through Castle Hill — the crossing point of the national network. In practice the visit is a moment in passing rather than a stop: five minutes, a photograph, and on you go. But the location is useful because it is a junction: here are the funicular station up to Buda Castle, the mouth of the castle tunnel, the Chain Bridge end and the stop for trams 19 and 41 — four connections in one square. Free, open-air, always accessible, and lit at night.
A three-metre block carved as the numeral zero — the point from which every Hungarian road distance is measured.
Funicular, tunnel, bridge and tram in one square — the best-connected point in Buda.
The castle tunnel's classical entrance stands directly behind the stone — one frame takes both.
From the square you see the whole Chain Bridge with the Pest skyline behind — the standard angle for bridge photographs from Buda.
Clark Ádám tér, at the Buda end of the Chain Bridge, Buda 1013