Tatabánya, Hungary

The turul - probably a peregrine falcon, as linguistic similarities suggest - is a central element in Hungarian pre-Christian mythology. Emese is said to have conceived of Álmos, the first high prince of the Hungarians, when she was visited in a dream by a turul. In the revival of interest in pre-Christian Hungarian culture in the late 19th and early 20th century, a number of statues of turuls have been erected, but only the Tatabánya statue remains, watching over the otherwise rather bleak town that is now mostly shaped by socialist pre-fab high-rises. Meanwhile, the turul motif remains due to its associations with nationalist extremism, in the focal point of heated political and social discussions.