Freedom Square wasn’t always a square. In fact, it used to be a barracks, built in the 18th century when the Austrians controlled Hungary. The barracks was only demolished in the 1890s, long after the apparent “compromise” between the two kingdoms.

Because the barracks became a symbol of Austrian oppression, the site has stayed a sore point. Things haven’t been helped by the addition of the Soviet Monument, one of the last in Europe, and for many Hungarians a throwback to the dark days of the Iron Curtain. This is also where Hungary’s first Prime Minister was executed in 1949. Weirdly or appropriately, depending on your point of view, a statue of Ronald Reagan was added nearby, for his role in ending the Cold War.

Other richly historic features nearby include the Stock Exchange. Unsurprisingly, trading stopped here when the communists came to power in 1948, but it remains a symbol of Budapest’s vibrant economy before and after. Likewise the National Bank, if you look east. It’s maybe no surprise that the United States chose Freedom Square for the site of their embassy. Appreciation for the US of A has extended to a statue of Harry Hill Bandholtz, the American general who stopped Romanian troops from looting the Hungarian National Museum.

Culture vultures should check out the House of Hungarian Art Nouveau, a museum for art from the turn of the 20th century. If you’re depressed by the seriousness of it all, have a go on the interactive fountain: when the hidden nozzles are turned, they send up a wall of water all around the square.