The seat of Hungarian Parliament and home to the crown jewels is often referred to as the jewel on the Danube and with good reason. It is a stunning piece of neo-Gothic architecture from 1906 and was inspired by, but far outshines, the Houses of Parliament in London. It is a gorgeously ornate building both inside and out, and it is an iconic location in central Budapest.

One woman was so enamoured with the building that she decided to construct a 7.5 by 2 meter replica in the basement of a building in the town of Keszthely, on the northern shores of Lake Balaton.

Ilona Miskei began construction of the scale model in 1975 and continued adding 4 and a half million snail shells over a 14 year period.…