All Budapest bridges have a bridgemaster that actually lives in the bridge or close to. Today I had the opportunity to meet Fazekas Janos, the third generation bridgemaster of the Lanchid/Chain Bridge. There are 4 flats built into the sides of the tunnel at Clark Adam Square that look out onto the bridge, and if one were to climb up the cables to the top of the bridge, one would find a door in one of the carved roses leading into a large two-story chamber. I could just imagine dancing up there under the fireworks on August 20th! Lanchid's design was a copy of  two bridges over the Thames, the Hammersmith Bridge in London, and the Marlowe Bridge (still standing), also designed by William Tierney Clark was full of interesting information that suprised even seasoned tour guides. For example, common knowledge is that János Marschalkó, the man who carved the 4 distinctive lions forgot the tongues and committed suicide when he realised his mistake. Urban myth! All the lions ahve tongues, and sculptor died a natural death. The bridge was totally renovated in 1914, and everything was changed except the 4 lion statues. The bridge largely survived WWII because the explosives got wet in the chain chamber (lanckamera) 8m below the Danube. The Austrians tried to blow up the bridge during the 1848 revolution, but the Hungarians flooded the chain chambers and then stole the water pumps. There is even a 40m tunnel someone can crawl through within the chains between the last link in the chain chamber and the surface that form the  bridge. The biggest threat to the bridge is corrotion. The chain chambers are 12 degrees, very damp, and flood when the Danube floods. If the corrotion gets bad in the last link, there is nothing that can be done to repair it unless you dismantle the entire bridge. When rust hit Charles Bridge in Prague, they banned cars and turned it into a pedestrian bridge. Janos said that the most exciting thing that has happened on the bridge in recent memory was when Greenpeace activists demonstrated against climate change and illegally hung from the bridge with banners. He is still upset about it, and was even less happy when I informed him that I set up the Greenpeace office in Hungary ;-)