The Zero Kilometre Stone is a three-metre limestone sculpture of a zero on Clark Ádám Square, at the Buda end of the Chain Bridge. It marks kilometre zero for Hungary: distances to Budapest on the country's main roads are measured from here. The stone, by the sculptor Miklós Borsos, was unveiled in 1975 and is the third monument to stand on this spot.
The Zero Kilometre Stone at a glance
- Where: the small park on Clark Ádám Square (Clark Ádám tér), between the Buda end of the Chain Bridge, the tunnel under Castle Hill and the lower station of the Castle Hill Funicular.
- Created: unveiled on 4 April 1975, then a national holiday in communist Hungary marking the end of the Second World War in the country; renovated in 2014.
- By: Miklós Borsos (1906–1990), one of Hungary's best-known sculptors and medallists.
- What it is today: Hungary's kilometre zero marker and a quick photo stop for people heading up to Castle Hill.
- Time needed: 5–10 minutes, longer if you combine it with the bridge and the funicular.
Three monuments on one spot
The idea of a zero point is older than the stone. The threshold of the royal palace on Castle Hill was once treated as the centre of Hungary's roads, and in the 18th century a milestone stood in front of the palace before it was moved down towards the river. The square below took on new importance when the Chain Bridge opened in November 1849 as the first permanent bridge between Buda and Pest. It is named after Adam Clark, the Scottish engineer who supervised the bridge's construction and then built the tunnel under Castle Hill behind the square. He was no relation of William Tierney Clark, the English engineer who designed the bridge.
In 1932, on an idea of Count Pál Festetics, a marble statue of the Virgin Mary by Jenő Körmendi-Frim was set up here as the zero point. It was destroyed during the siege of Budapest in 1944–45. In 1953 the communist authorities replaced it with László Molnár's statue of a worker holding a car wheel, a model of socialist realism. In 1974 that statue was moved to a railway station on the edge of the city, at Rákoshegy, to make room for Borsos's abstract zero, unveiled the following spring.
What to look for
- The zero: an oval limestone ring about three metres high, standing on a low pedestal carved with the abbreviation for kilometres.
- The circular base around it, which gives the distance and direction to major Hungarian cities and to the country's World Heritage sites.
- The Chain Bridge lions: two stone lions by János Marschalkó guard each end of the bridge, installed in 1852.
- The tunnel portal behind the square, the classical entrance to Adam Clark's tunnel under Castle Hill.
- The lower station of the Castle Hill Funicular, which has carried passengers up the hill since 1870.
The lions without tongues
A well-known Budapest legend says the Chain Bridge lions have no tongues, and that when people pointed this out, the sculptor was so ashamed that he threw himself into the Danube. It is only a story: Marschalkó lived for many years after the lions were installed, and the lions do have tongues. You just cannot see them from the pavement below.
Tips for your visit
- Come early in the morning if you want a photo of the stone without other visitors; by mid-morning the square is busy with groups heading for the funicular.
- Clark Ádám Square is a busy roundabout. Use the pedestrian crossings and watch for buses coming out of the tunnel.
- Make it the start or end of a longer walk: cross the Chain Bridge on foot to Pest, or walk or ride the funicular up to Castle Hill.
Nearby
- The Chain Bridge: Budapest's oldest permanent bridge across the Danube, with views of the Parliament from the middle of the span.
- The Castle Hill Funicular (Budavári Sikló): the short ride up to the castle, with a view over the river on the way.
- Buda Castle: the former royal palace on the hill above the square, now home to museums, with terraces looking out over Pest.
- Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church: the white lookout terraces and the Gothic church at the top of Castle Hill.
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Facts checked in October 2026.