Anyone who has seen it once will not forget the exceptional experience they had in the capital city of Hungary. This magnificent and outstanding city with wide avenues awaits its visitors with so many programs and attractions that it requires multiple trips, which, of course, so many do. Countless tourists return here not once but numerous times. Standing on both sides of the Danube and surrounded by lowlands and mountains, Budapest arose from the unification of Buda (including Óbuda) and Pest. The city´s population was characterized by ethnic diversity already from the very beginning. Formerly, Budapest consisted of 10 districts, seven of which were located on the Pest side. However, in 1950, through the attachment of 23 nearby settlements, Budapest got 12 new districts. Today, the city consists of 23 districts most of which are located on the Pest side of the city. Budapest’s main roads, which form the backbone of the capital and are essential not least from the point of view of commerce, borrow a unique character and structure for the city. The smaller streets are connected to these roads in a fan shape, which diverges from a chessboard-like division of other European big cities, such as Berlin´s.
As mentioned above, this ardently beating heart of the country was once two independent towns which, at the end of the 19th century, became one. The two sides of Budapest, however, are very different from one another. Whereas most theaters, museums, and universities are located in Pest, with its forested mountains, deep valleys, and magnificent stalactite caves, Buda offers countless opportunities to ease the mind. Buda is also the home of history, and its neighborhoods are prosperous in green areas. Hence, while in Buda one can stroll around in a relaxed historical environment and search for relief in the tranquilizing nature, the Pest side is the hectic political, scientific, cultural, and economic center of the country.
The Roman inherited streets of Òbuda were lined with stone houses, and its population, just like the population of Buda, was engaged in viticulture. The Buda area was sparsely inhabited and mainly consisted of small villages, landlord settlements, and church estates. Hence, its residents were primarily royal servants, church personnel, and property owners, who, in addition to viticulture, were also involved in wine production. Consistently, on the other side of the Danube, the Slavic-Bulgarian merchant population of Pest was engaged in wine- and animal trade. Today, gastronomy is a central branch of the Hungarian economy, in which winemaking and brewing continue to play an important role. While Buda is righteously proud of its Baroque-style buildings, Pest’s Classicist-style buildings provide a harmonious and balanced serenity to its image. However, one should not be misled by these architectural features, as, quite paradoxically, Pest is still the dynamic intellectual center of the capital, whilst Buda is the calmer and gentler part of the city.
Buda’s forested, sometimes vine-covered mountain ridges resemble Vienna, while Pest was built on white quicksand or, in some areas, black marsh territories. Pest is also rich in groundwater and once had several streams. In the southern part of Pest, the prominent quarry hills contain limestone that is easy to carve and shape since it is soft inside the mine but hardens when brought up into the open air. Hence, these hills provide good clay for brick firing. Consequently, while the buildings of present Buda are of several types of building stone, the buildings of Pest were often built from this limestone.
Bearing in mind that until 1873, the city was not unified, the origin of its name, along with its history, although intertwined, still can be separated. The name ´Pest´ goes back to ancient times, with several theories about its origin and meaning. According to medieval chronicles, the city´s name comes from the personal name Bleda (= Buda), the brother of Attila, our ancestral leader and king of the Huns. However, another unverifiable hypothesis is that its origin could be the Slavic ´voda´ word that, similarly to the ancient Latin name of Aquincum, means water. But the word Aquincum itself might have a Celtic derivation, in which case its meaning is associated with water. This theory finds support in the fact that the Celts established their city, ´Ak-ink´ (abundant water), in the Transdanubia district already before the birth of Christ. Although I did not find any data on this, the connection of the name to water can even be explained by the nature of the wet, swampy land of the olden days Pest. On the other hand, in the old Hungarian language, the furnace was called ´pest´, which has the same meaning as the German name for Buda, ´Ofen´. However, one of the more widely accepted explanations is that the name is related to Gellért Hill since the word ´Gellért´ means “rock cavity” or “cave” in Slavic. The word ´Ofen´ also has a similar origin as the Slavic word ´pest´ and hence, it also implies a cave or cavity in the Southern German dialect. However, later the name ´Ofen´ was only applied to the castle hill in Buda by Germans living in the area, and they referred to Pest as ´Alt-Ofen´. Yet, it is noteworthy that, preceding the Tatar invasion, a document mentions the settlement on the left bank of the Danube, the current Pest, as ´Ofen´. In contrast, until the 16th century, not only the present Pest but also Ráczváros (/ Tabán) on the Buda coast was entitled Pest.
We find few large cities in Europe that have experienced so much and such great disasters as Budapest. The city has been destroyed and rebuilt on many occasions over the centuries. Many of the most famous buildings in Budapest were built in 1873 when the city also became a metropolis. Yet, it isn´t only Budapest’s impressive architectural wonders, but also its baths, museums, exhibition spaces, programs, restaurants, and cafés provide visitors with immeasurable memories. Some might even claim, that those who have not yet strolled the streets of the capital haven’t really seen Hungary. While the first bathhouses were built by the Romans, during the 150 years of Turkish rule, the bathing traditions were not only preserved but also further developed. Today, however, the initial baths are just historical relics. Nowadays, you find instead over 400 bitter water springs and around 80 geothermal and mineral water springs in Budapest. The temperature of these is between 24 and 78 °C. The first hot water artesian well was commissioned in 1967 and the 70 million liters water/day yield of the springs has been used regularly since the end of the 19th century. The two most popular and most widely visited baths in the city are the Széchenyi- and Gellért Spas, but lying in a delightful environment on Margitsziget, the Palatinus spa is also among the prevalent choices to tourists. Along with the spas, innumerable beaches are available to both Budapest guests and residents. Furthermore, the capital city boasts as many as 223 museums and galleries and one of the most exceptional and even one of the most visited of the city´s cafés, the New York caféhouse from 1894. Then again, the New York caféhouse is not the only café in the capital with a historical touch. Many cafés in Budapest are reminiscent of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy. Thus, Budapest is not just a city of spas but also ´the city of museums and cafés´.
However, we can just as well call Budapest ´the city of bridges´ or ´the city of culture´. Bridges have been used in various forms throughout history, but initially mainly for pedestrian crossings. Ship bridges proliferated in the 18th century, and then mostly in the area of larger cities. Today, with a whole 13 road- and two railway bridges, Budapest is a true engineering marvel. The first bridge between Buda and Pest was a 455.5-meter-long bridge built in 1769. The first permanent bridge over the Danube, however, was the Széchenyi Chain Bridge (Széchenyi Lánchíd). The Széchenyi Chain Bridge, which connected Buda and Pest during the Reformation, was built with the support of Count István Széchenyi and was designed by William Tierney Clark. Thus, this is the oldest and most renowned bridge and is one of the city’s most iconic landmarks. The second permanent bridge of the Danube, the Margit Bridge, was completed in 1876, and it was followed by the construction of the Elizabeth Bridge (Erzsébet híd – which is no longer a chain bridge, but a cable bridge) and the Freedom Bridge (Szabadság híd). Nevertheless, following the Second World War, even other permanent bridges were built, such as the Árpád Bridge (which initially was called the Stalin Bridge), the Rákóczi Bridge (also known as the Lágymányosi Bridge), the Deák Ferenc Bridge (which is the southern bridge of the M0) and the northern bridge of the M0, the Megyeri Bridge. The city’s charm is truly raised by all these bridges.
Among the countless popular events, we must mention some of the prevalent cultural events, the Sziget Festival, and the Budapest Spring Festival. But, the nightlife of Budapest is no exception from diversity and variety and hence is also full of character. Here, immense nightclubs, tattered ´ruin´ pubs, homely local bars, and luxurious, yet relaxed backyard parties, alternate each other in a most unusual manner. The youngest of these, the ´ruin´ pubs, began to appear in the 2000s and today are a prevailing part of the vacation programs of young tourists who want to experience the nightlife of outlandish places. What´s more, in recent years, the capital city has turned into a home of fashion. Amid the well-visited malls and galleries, underground stores offer unexpected curiosities in the form of vintage clothing. In addition, numerous of the well-known sights of the capital were declared as UNESCO World Heritage, such as the Chain Bridge, the Buda Castle, and even the Parliament. As you might already understand, in the cradle of Hungary, Budapest, you can have it all. Hence, Budapest is equally cherished by locals and by long-distance vacationers. Here, you can visit the third-largest parliament building in the world, Europe’s largest synagogue on Dohány utca, and the world’s largest thermal water cave system. However, the Parliament itself is not only significant on a global scale but it is also the largest building in Hungary. It was designed by Imre Steindl and it is here where the Holy Crown is kept.
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Written by Gertrúd Windberg on 29 February 2024, Sundbyberg
The root of the roots – the history of the tormented city of Budapest
District I-II – Várnegyed and Margit körút
District III-IV – Óbuda-Békásmegyer and Újpest
District V-VI – Belváros, Lipóváros and Terézváros
District VII-VIII – Erzsébetváros and Józsefváros
District IX-X – Ferencváros and Kőbánya
District XI-XII – Újbuda and Hegyvidék
District XIII-XIV – Angyalföld and Zugló
District XV-XVI – Rákospalota and Cinkota
District XVII-XVIII – Rákosmente and Vecsés
District XIX-XX – Kispest and Pesterzsébet
District XXI-XXII – Csepel and Budafok-Tétény
District XXIII – Soroksár
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