Budapest
Budapest (Pronunciation in Hungarian:/хbud diagnosisp implied(
listen)) is the most populated capital and city of Hungary, as well as its main industrial, commercial and transport center. It has 1.75 million inhabitants (2016) a significant decrease over the nearly 2.1 million in the mid-1980s, which represents a fifth of the total population of Hungary. It is the most populous city in Central-Eastern Europe and the seventh European Union. The city occupies an area of 525 km2 and its metropolitan area has a population of 2.38 million. Budapest was established as such on November 17, 1873, when the cities of Buda and Óbuda were unified on the west bank of the Danube, and Pest on the east bank.
Budapest's history began with Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement that became the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia. Hungarians arrived in the territory in the 17th century IX. Its first settlement was sacked by the Mongols in 1241-42. The reestablished city became one of the centers of Renaissance humanist culture in the XV. After the Battle of Mohács and after almost a century and a half of Ottoman rule, the development of the region entered a new era of prosperity in the 18th and XIX, and Budapest became a global city after unification in 1873. It also became the second capital of Austria-Hungary, a major power that it was dissolved in 1918. Budapest was the focal point of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution, the 1919 Hungarian Soviet Republic, Operation Panzerfaust in 1944, the 1945 Battle of Budapest, and the 1956 Revolution.
Considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, Budapest has several World Heritage Sites, including, on the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle District, Andrássy Avenue, Heroes Square and the Millennium Metropolitan, the second oldest in the world. Other highlights include a total of 80 geothermal springs, the world's largest hot spring cave system, the second largest synagogue and the third largest Parliament building in the world. The city attracts around 4.3 million tourists a year, making it the 25th most popular city in the world, according to Euromonitor.
Budapest is also a major financial center in Central Europe. The city was ranked third (out of 65 cities) in Mastercard's Emerging Markets Index, and ranked as the best liveable city in Central and Eastern Europe by quality of life index by the Economist Intelligence Unit. It was also ranked as the "seventh idyllic place in Europe to live" by Forbes magazine, and as the ninth most beautiful city in the world by UCityGuides. It is also the best city in Central and Eastern Europe in the Innovation Cities' Top 100.
Toponymy
The name "Budapest" is a composition of the city names "Buda" and "Pest", as they were united (along with Óbuda) to become a single city in 1873. One of the earliest appearances of the combined name "Buda-Pest" was in 1831 in the book Világ ("World"), written by Count István Széchenyi.
The origin of the words "Buddha" and "Pest" is uncertain. According to the chronicles of the Middle Ages, the name "Buda" comes from the name of its founder, Bleda (Buda), the brother of the Hun Attila. The theory that "Buddha" was the name of a person is also supported by modern scholars. An alternative explanation suggests that it derives from the Slavic word "вода, voda" ("water"), a translation of the Latin name Aquincum, which was the main Roman settlement in the region.
There are also several theories about the origin of the name "Pest". One of the theories holds that it comes from Roman times, since there was a fortress, "Contra-Aquincum", which in this region is known as "Pession" (Πέσσιον, III.7. § 2) by Ptolemy. According to another theory, it takes its origin from the Slavic word «пещера, peshtera» («cave») or from the word «печь, pesht» («oven») in reference to a local cave. In the Old Hungarian language there was a similar meaning for the word "oven/cave" and the original Old German name for this region was "Ofen". Later, "Ofen" in German refers to the part of the Buddha.
History
The first settlement on the territory of Budapest was built by Celtic tribes before 1 BC. C. and was later occupied by the Romans. The Roman settlement, Aquincum, became the principal city of Lower Pannonia in 106. The Romans built roads, amphitheatres, baths, and houses with heated floors in this fortified military camp.
The peace treaty of 829 added Pannonia to Bulgaria due to the victory of the Bulgarian army of Omurtag over the Holy Roman Empire of Ludovico Pius. Budapest arose from two Bulgarian borders, the military fortresses of Buda and Pest, situated on both banks of the Danube. The Hungarians, led by Árpád, settled in the territory in the late IX, and a century later the Kingdom of Hungary was officially founded. Research places the residence of the House of Árpad in close proximity to what would become in Budapest. The Mongol invasion in the XIII quickly proved that defense is difficult on a plain. King Béla IV of Hungary ordered the construction of reinforced concrete walls around the cities and established his own royal palace on top of the protective hills of Buda. In 1361 it became the capital of Hungary.
The cultural role of Buda was particularly important during the reign of King Matthias Corvino. The Italian Renaissance had a great influence on the city. Its library, the Bibliotheca Corvinniana, was the collection of historical chronicles and philosophical and scientific works in Europe in the XV, and the second in size, only surpassed by the Library Vatican. After the foundation of the first Hungarian university in Pécs in 1367, the second was established in Óbuda in 1395. The first printed book in Hungarian was in Buda in 1473. Buda had about 5,000 inhabitants around 1500, although modern studies suggest that the sum of Buda and Pest had between 15,000 and 25,000 inhabitants.
The Ottomans sacked Buda in 1526, besieged it in 1529, and finally occupied it in 1541. The Turkish occupation lasted for more than 140 years. The Turks built many bathing facilities in the city. many Christians converted to Islam. In 1547 the number of Christians dwindled to around a thousand, and by 1647 it had dropped to only about seventy. The unoccupied western part of the country became part of the Habsburg empire as real Hungary.
In 1686, two years after the failed siege of Buda, a renewed campaign to conquer the Hungarian capital was organized. This time, the Holy League army was twice as large, numbering over 74,000 soldiers. Among them were English, German, Dutch, Croatian, Hungarian, Spanish, Czech, Italian, French, Danish, and Swedish, along with other Europeans as volunteers, artillerymen, and officers. Christian forces recaptured Buda and, in the following years, all previous Hungarian lands, except for the areas near Timişoara (Temesvár), were taken from the Turks. In the Treaty of Karlowitz of 1699 these territorial changes were officially recognized, and in 1718 the entire Kingdom of Hungary was liberated from Ottoman rule. The city was destroyed during the battle, and Hungary was then incorporated into the Habsburg Empire.
1867 was the year of reconciliation that brought about the birth of Austria-Hungary. The 19th century was dominated by the struggle for Hungarian independence and modernization. The national insurrection against the Habsburgs began in the Hungarian capital in 1848 and was defeated just over a year later. This made Budapest the twin capital of a dual monarchy. It was this commitment that opened the second phase of great development in the history of Budapest, which lasted until the First World War. In 1849, the Chain Bridge linking Buda with Pest, the first permanent bridge over the Danube, was inaugurated and in 1873 Buda and Pest were merged with the third part, Óbuda (old Buda), thus creating the new metropolis of Budapest. The dynamic Pest became the political, administrative, economic, commercial and cultural center of the country. The ethnic Hungarian population surpassed the German in the second half of the XIX due to mass migration from the overcrowded and rural Transdanubia and the Great Hungarian Plain. Between 1851 and 1910 the proportion of Hungarians increased from 35.6% to 85.9% of the population, Hungarian became the dominant language and German was displaced. The proportion of Jews peaked in 1900 at 23.6%. Due to the prosperity and large Jewish community present in the city in the early XX, Budapest was also known as the "Jewish Mecca".
In 1918, Austria-Hungary, after losing World War I, collapsed; and Hungary declared itself an independent republic. In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon finalized the partition of the country; as a result of which, Hungary lost two thirds of its territory and around two thirds of its inhabitants, including 3.3 million of the 10 million ethnic Hungarians.
In 1944, towards the end of World War II, Budapest was partially destroyed by British and American air raids. From December 24, 1944 to February 13, 1945, the city was besieged by Soviet troops during the Battle of Budapest. The capital suffered extensive damage from attacking Soviet and Romanian forces and defending German and Hungarian troops. All the bridges were destroyed, in their flight, by the German army and more than 38,000 civilians lost their lives during the conflict.
Between 20% and 40% of the 250,000 Jewish inhabitants of Budapest died as a result of the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis and the Arrow Cross Party during 1944 and early 1945. Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg managed to save the lives of tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest, giving them Swedish passports and taking them under his consular protection.
Similarly, Spanish diplomat Ángel Sanz Briz also saved 5,000 Jews by issuing them Spanish passports from Francoist-era Spain, posing as Sephardic Jews. He was declared Righteous Among the Nations by the Israeli state.
In 1956, peaceful demonstrations in Budapest led to the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution. The leadership collapsed after the mass demonstrations that began on October 23, but Soviet tanks entered Budapest to crush the revolt. The fighting continued until early November, leaving more than 3,000 dead.
From the 1960s to the late 1980s, Hungary was sometimes satirically referred to as the "happy shack" of the Eastern Bloc, and much of the city's war damage was eventually repaired. Work on the Erzsébet Bridge, the last to be rebuilt, was completed in 1964. In the early 1970s, line M2 of the Budapest metro opened in its east-west direction, followed by line M3 in 1982.
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In 1987, Unesco included Buda Castle and the banks of the Danube on the list of World Heritage Sites. In 2002, Andrássy Avenue (including the Millennium subway train, Hősök tere and Városliget) was added to the Unesco list. In the 1980s the city's population reached 2.1 million. In recent times there has been a significant decline in the population, mainly due to a massive demographic movement to Pest County.
In the last decades of the XX the political changes and the fall of the communist system that began in 1989 produced important changes in the civil society and on the streets of Budapest. Communist monuments were removed from public places and brought to Memento Park. In the first twenty years of the new democracy, the city government was headed by Gábor Demszky.
Geography
The 525 km² area of Budapest is located in central Hungary surrounded by agglomeration settlements in Pest county. The capital extends 25 and 29 kilometers north-south and east-west, respectively. The Danube River enters the city from the north, and later encircles two islands, Óbuda and Margaret Island. The third island, Csepel, is the largest of Budapest's Danube islands, however only the tip further north it is within the city limits. The river that separates the two parts of the city is 230 meters wide at its narrowest point in Budapest. Pest lies on the plain of the Great Plain, while the terrain in Buda is very hilly. Pest's terrain rises with a slight slope to the east, so the easternmost parts of the city are at the same level. height than the small Buda Hills, in particular Gellért Hill and Castle Hill. The Buda Hills are mainly made of limestone and dolomite, the water created speleothems, which can be found most famously in the Pálvölgyi and Szemlőhegyi caves. The hills were formed in the Triassic era. The highest point of the hills and of Budapest is János Hill, 527 meters above sea level. The lowest point is the Danube line, which is 96 meters above sea level. The forests of the Buda Hills are environmentally protected.
Districts
Originally, after the unification of the three cities in 1873, there were 10 districts in Budapest. On January 1, 1950, Budapest was united with several neighboring towns and the number of its districts was raised to 22, forming Greater Budapest. At that time there were changes, both in the order of the districts and in their sizes. There are currently 23 districts, six in Buda, 16 in Pest and one on the Danube island of Csepel. Each district can be associated with one or several parts of the city named after previous cities in Budapest. The city center, in a broad sense, comprises districts V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and XIII on the Pest side, and I, II, XI, and XII on the Buda side.
District IV
District IV is located north of Budapest, on the west bank of the Danube River. Before 1950, when several areas were annexed to Budapest, it was the town of Újpest. The name means 'New Pest', because it was formed on the edge of the City of Pest in 1840. Újpest was a village or town for six decades before 1907, when it became a town. As mentioned, in 1950 the town was unified with Budapest, to form the Greater Budapest, and become the IV District.
XXI District
The XXI district is located to the north of the island of Csepel, to the east flows the Danube and on the other bank are the IX, XX and XXIII districts, to the west the border of the district is naturally marked by the contour of the island with the banks of the Danube that on its opposite bank presents the XI and XXII districts, on the south the limit demarcated by the capital, that is, the limits of the town of Szigetszentmiklós.
In the second half of the XX the most important industrialization of the district occurred, making it a base of the heavy industry. In this area the workers settled, who contributed to the formation of urban areas, parks and neighborhoods. The district thus became a stronghold of the Hungarian working class. It was independent until January 1, 1950, when along with other areas it was annexed as an integral part of the capital Budapest.
The 21st district is considered one of the classic industrial districts of Budapest (due to its metallurgical, steel and paper industries). In the first half of the XX the economy of the district is linked to the name of Manfréd Weiss, who with his metallurgical company had the range widest range of products that at the time existed in the entire region of Central and Eastern Europe. After World War II the factory passed into the hands of the state. In the mid 50's even in Tibet the products of the factory were sold. In the late 1980s, due to low demand for products and high maintenance costs, the factory gradually came to a standstill. Currently, the complex functions as an industrial zone, housing hundreds of other companies, offices, and small factories. Only one protective zone is home to the District, on the Tamariska hill in the Királyerdő area, which since 1999 was declared by the capital city as natural heritage, since innumerable native and exclusive plant species of the area are found on its sandy banks.
Most relevant neighborhoods
- Ady Endre Street District
- Csillagtelep
- Barrio de Királymajori
- Barrio de Vízmű
- Barrio de la calle Árpád
Climate
The city has a humid continental climate, a transitional climate between the temperate, snow-covered climate of Transdanubia, the variable continental climate of the great flat open plain in the east, and the almost sub-Mediterranean climate in the south.
Spring is characterized by abundant sunshine and isolated rains. The temperature begins to rise noticeably in April, usually reaching highs of 25 °C at the end of the month, although there are short cold spells with low temperatures in the area with 0-5 °C and frosts can appear even in mid-April. May.
In the summers, long periods of heat, with temperatures between 32-35 °C, are exchanged with brief humid periods with cold fronts coming from the west, with temperatures between 18-25 °C. The humidity is high, from time to time, in summer mainly secondary to the influence of the Mediterranean. However, in general, the heat is dry and the night temperatures are very pleasant, especially in the residential suburbs. In the center of Pest, however, it is not uncommon for temperatures to be above 25°C at midnight. Storms, some of them violent with strong gusts and torrential rains, are also frequent. The highest temperature recorded was 40.7 °C on July 20, 2007.
High temperatures can stay above 20°C until the end of October. The coldest nights and frosts first arrive, usually in the second week of October. The short cold periods vary with the summer of San Miguel, which can last entire weeks. November brings abundant rain, sometimes snow, and a drastic drop in temperatures (to 10°C throughout the fall of the month).
Winters are variable and unpredictable. Westerly winds bring temperate oceanic air, with temperatures between 5-10 °C, hardly freezing and disperse rain or snow. Low squalls moving in from the Mediterranean Sea can bring snowstorms with 20-40 cm of fall in a single day, followed by cold air from Russia. South Atlantic squalls and wind can bring unusually warm weather, with temperatures reaching 15°C even in January. The Siberian high cyclone brings every two years a very sunny but cold period lasting a week or two with low points in the -15 to -20 °C climatic range. Anticyclones with the uppermost centers of Western Europe produce cold fog with no change in temperature between day and night, staying around or slightly below 0 °C. The fog can last for weeks. Mediterranean lows moving above the fog layer can bring a day or two of freezing rain.
 Average Budapest climate parameters | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Ene. | Feb. | Mar. | Open up. | May. | Jun. | Jul. | Ago. | Sep. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | Annual |
| Temp. max. abs. (°C) | 18.1 | 19.7 | 25.4 | 30.2 | 34.0 | 39.5 | 40.7 | 39.4 | 35.2 | 30.8 | 22.6 | 19.3 | 40.7 |
| Average temperature (°C) | 2.9 | 5.5 | 10.6 | 16.4 | 21.9 | 24.6 | 26.7 | 26.6 | 21.6 | 15.4 | 7.7 | 4.0 | 15.3 |
| Average temperature (°C) | -0.4 | 2.3 | 6.1 | 12.0 | 16.6 | 19.7 | 21.5 | 21.2 | 16.9 | 11.8 | 5.4 | 1.8 | 11.2 |
| Temp. medium (°C) | -1.7 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 7.6 | 12.1 | 15.1 | 16.8 | 16.5 | 12.8 | 7.85 | 2.9 | -0.0 | 7.8 |
| Temp. min. abs. (°C) | -25.6 | -23.4 | -15.1 | -4.6 | -1.6 | 3.0 | 5.9 | 5.0 | -3.1 | -9.5 | -16.4 | -20.8 | -25.6 |
| Total precipitation (mm) | 37 | 29 | 30 | 42 | 62 | 63 | 45 | 49 | 40 | 39 | 53 | 43 | 532 |
| Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 78 |
| Hours of sun | 55 | 84 | 137 | 182 | 230 | 248 | 274 | 255 | 197 | 156. | 67 | 48 | 1933 |
| Source: www.met.hu | |||||||||||||
Economy
Budapest became a global city due to industrialization. In 1910, 45.2% of the total population worked in factories. The Hungarian capital was one of the largest industrial cities in Europe with 600,000 factory workers in the 1960s. Between 1920 and 1970, more than half of Hungary's total industrial production was done in Budapest. Metallurgy (FÉG), the textile industry and the automobile industry (Ikarus) were the main sectors that received the structural changes.
Now almost every branch of industry is located in Budapest. The main products are engineering and computer communication apparatus, electrical machines, incandescent lamps (General Electric). The pharmaceutical industry is also important, well known Egis and the companies Gedeon Richter and Chinoin are Hungarian, while Teva also has a division here.
Industry is rather on the outskirts, as the center is the place for the main service of national and international financial companies, such as Telekom Hungary, General Electric, Vodafone, Telenor, Erste Bank, CIB Bank, K&H Bank&;Insurance, UniCredit, Budapest Bank, Generali Providencia Insurance, ING, Aegon Insurance, Allianz. The regional bases of Volvo Co., Saab, Ford, GE, IBM, TATA Consultancy Services Limited are in Budapest. The Hungarian Oil & Gas MOL Group, which with its subsidiaries, is an integrated oil and gas leader in Central and Eastern Europe. The OTP Bank, which is the largest bank in Hungary, with branches in eight other countries, is headquartered in the capital.
Budapest is the center of services, financial advice, foreign exchange transactions, business services and goods. Trade and logistics services are well developed. Tourism and hospitality also deserve mention, since in the capital there are thousands of restaurants, bars, cafes and party places.
Places of interest
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In 1987 “Budapest, with the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue” was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The neo-Gothic Parliament houses, among other things, the Hungarian crown jewels. The Basilica of Saint Stephen, where the Right Hand of the Holy founder of Hungary, King Saint Stephen, is exhibited. Hungarian cuisine and café culture can be sampled, for example, at Café Gerbeaud, and the restaurants Százéves, Biarritz, Fortuna, Alabárdos, Arany Szarvas, Kárpátia and the famous Mátyás Pince. There are Roman remains in the Aquincum Museum and historical furniture in the Nagytétény Museum, which are just two of Budapest's 223 museums.
Castle Hill and the Castle District are home to three churches, six museums, and a number of interesting buildings, streets, and squares. The old Royal Palace is one of the symbols of Hungary and has been the scene of battles and wars since the XIII. Today it houses two impressive museums and the National Széchenyi Library. The nearby Sándor Palace houses the offices and official residence of the President of Hungary. The Church of Saint Matthias, seven centuries old, is one of the jewels of Budapest. Next to it is an equestrian statue of the first king of Hungary, King Saint Stephen, and behind it the Fisherman's Bastion, from where a panoramic view of the entire city opens. Statues of the Turul, Hungary's mythical guardian bird, can be found in both the Castle Quarter and District XII.
In Pest, undoubtedly the most important sight is Andrássy út, while Kodály Körönd and Oktogon streets are lined with shops and large flats built close together. From there to the Plaza de los Héroes the houses are completely separated and are more spacious. Within the framework of the complex is the oldest metropolitan railway in continental Europe, most of whose stations retain their original appearance. Heroes' Square is dominated by the Millennium Monument, with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front. On either side are the Museum of Fine Arts and the Budapest Contemporary Art Gallery, and behind is the City Park, with the Vajdahunyad Castle. One of the jewels of Andrássy út is the Hungarian National Opera. Memento Park, a theme park with notable communist-era statues, is located just outside the city center and is accessible by public transportation.
The city is home to the largest synagogue in Europe (the Dohány Street Synagogue) and the second largest in the world. It is located in the Jewish quarter, occupying several blocks in the center of Budapest bordered by Király utca, Wesselényi utca, Grand Boulevard and Bajcsy Zsilinszky road. The city also boasts the largest medicinal water bath in Europe (Széchenyi Baths) and the third largest Parliament building in the world. The third largest church in Europe (Esztergom Basilica) and the second largest baroque castle in the world (Gödöllő) are located nearby.
In the urban landscape of Budapest can be distinguished the Statue of Liberty, which is 14 meters high and rests on a 26-meter pedestal on Gellért Hill. The statue was made of bronze during the Soviet occupation of Hungary.
Church of Matías
Basilica of St. Stephen
Vajdahunyad Castle
Budapest Central Market
Synagogue of Dohány Street
View of Buda Castle at night from the Danube River.
Buda Castle
Museum of Fine Arts
Basilica of St. Stephen
Pesti Vigadó
Budai Vigked
Hotel Gellért
Museum of Applied Arts
Hotel Boscolo
Hungarian National Museum
Bastion of Fishermen
Statue of San Esteban
House of Terror
Hungarian National Opera
Buda Castle
National Theatre
Great Synagogue
Statue of Liberty
Chain Bridge
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Culture
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The dance tradition of the Carpathian Basin is the unique area of European dance culture, which is also a kind of transition between the Balkan and Western European regions. In Budapest there are several authentic Hungarian folk dance ensembles, some of them professional. Budapest is one of the few cities in the world where there is a secondary school for learning folk dance.
In Budapest, there are currently 837 different monuments, representing most of the European artistic style. Classic and unique Hungarian Art Nouveau buildings are prominent.
The city's 223 museums and galleries present not only Hungarian art and exhibitions, but also art and science from world and European culture. Among the most important ones in the city are the Hungarian National Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Budapest Historical Museum, Memento Park and the Museum of Applied Arts.
In Budapest there are forty theatres, seven concert halls and one opera house. Open-air festivals, concerts and conferences are also often held in historic buildings, enriching the summer cultural offer. The most prestigious theater institutions are the Budapest Operetta and Musical Theater, the József Attila Theatre, the Katona József Theatre, the Madách Theatre, the Hungarian National Opera, the National Theatre, the Vigadó, the Radnóti Miklós Theater and the Theater of the comedy.
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Many libraries have unique collections in Budapest, such as the National Széchenyi Library, which maintains historical relics from the days before books were printed. The Ervin Szabó Metropolitan Library plays an important role in the general education of the population of the capital. Other important libraries are the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Eötvös Loránd University Library, the Library of Parliament and the National Library of Foreign Literature.
Among the cultural events in Hungary, the biggest open-air festival is the Sziget Festival, which is very popular all over Europe. Others that are also important and are celebrated in the city are the Budapest Spring Festival, the Budapest Autumn Festival, the Budapest Wine Festival and the Budapest Wine Festival. from Pálinka Budapest.
Tourists visiting Budapest are provided with free maps and information about the various "points of interest" by the municipal company BTDM at its information points. The Budapest 24- and 72-hour card is available to visitors. For transport, the validity of the card is free and there are discounts in several museums, restaurants and other places of interest. The city is also known for its bars in ancient ruins.
Thermal Baths
In 1934, Budapest was given the title "City of Spas" for being the capital with the most medicinal water wells and thermal springs in the world; it is known by some as "The World Capital of Medicinal Waters".
Its network is unique: the yield of hot springs, with temperatures from 21 to 78 degrees Celsius, which gush from 118 natural sources and artificial wells, exceeds 70 million liters per day. In Budapest there are well-known public thermal baths: Gellért Baths (Gellért fürdő), Széchenyi Baths (Széchenyi fürdő) the largest European bath, Lukács Baths (Lukács fürdő ), Rudas Spa (Rudas fürdő), Király Spa (Király fürdő) and Rác Spa (Rác fürdő). Medicinal waters are used to treat diseases of the locomotive organs, blood circulation and gynecology.
In the surroundings of these thermal baths there are wells and rooms to drink medicinal water with a high content of different types of minerals. The best-known of these intake rooms serves as the entrance to the Lukács thermal bath, which was inaugurated in 1937, its medicinal waters being used to cure digestive problems. The thermal bath building was built in 1894. Its beneficial medicinal effects soon became known in the rest of Europe, making it one of the most notable places for this healthy specialty.
Also famous are the Turkish-era thermal baths still in operation today, such as the Király, built in the late 1500s, and the Rác bath. >. The Rudas bath —with its octagonal room with columns and dome— is the oldest and best decorated Turkish bath.
Islands
Seven islands can be found in the Danube: Shipyard, Margaret Island, Csepel Island, Palotai-Sziget (now a peninsula), Népsziget, Haros-Sziget, and Sziget Molnár.
Margarita Island is 2.5 km (1.6 miles) long and 0.965 square kilometers (238 acres) in area. It consists mainly of a park and is a popular recreation area for tourists and locals alike. The island lies between the Marguerite Bridge (south) and the Árpád Bridge (north). On the island you can find discos, swimming pools, a water park, running tracks, cycling tracks, athletics tracks and gyms. During the day the island is occupied by people who play sports or simply rest. In the summer (generally on weekends) the youngest go to the island to party at night on its terraces, or to have fun with a bottle of alcohol on a bench or on the lawn (this form of entertainment is called sometimes as bank-party).
Csepel Island (Hungarian pronunciation:] tʃɛpɛlsiɡɛt [) is the largest island of the Danube River in Hungary. It is 48 km (30 mi) long, its width is 6.8 km (3.75-5 mi), and its area covers 257 km² (99 sq mi), although only the northern end is within the city limits..
Hajógyári-Sziget ([hɒjo ː ː ɟa siɡɛt ri], or Sziget Óbudai-) is an artificial island, located in the third district. This island is home to numerous activities such as: wake boarding, jet skiing during the day, and dance clubs at night. This is the island where the famous Sziget Festival takes place, receiving hundreds of performances per year and around 400,000 visitors in its last edition. Many construction projects are underway to make this island one of the most important leisure centers in Europe, the plan is to build apartment buildings, hotels, casinos and a marina.
Luppa-Sziget is the smallest island of Budapest, located in the northern region.
Education
Budapest is the educational center of Hungary and home to the most prestigious universities in the country:
- Eötvös Loránd University
- Budapest Business School
- European Central University
- Budapest University of Technology and Economics
- Corvinus University of Budapest
- Semmelweis University (medical university)
- Szent István University
- Universidad Óbuda
- Pázmány Péter Catholic University
- Károli Gáspár University
- University of Budapest of Jewish Studies
- International Business School
- Andrássy University of Budapest
- Moholy-Nagy Art and Design University
- Ferenc Liszt Music Academy
There are secondary schools:
- Instituto Bilingüe Húngaro-English Károlyi Mihály de Kispest
- Instituto Bilingüe Karinthy Frigyes
Transportation
Aerial
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Budapest Liszt Ferenc Airport is located about 25 km south-east of the city center. It consists of three terminals: Ferihegy 1, Ferihegy 2/A and Ferihegy 2/B. From the airport it takes about 30 minutes to get to the city center; the price of the trip is about €19 by taxi and about €6 by bus. Malév was the national airline.
The airport can also be reached by public transport, bus number 200E connects the two terminals with the Kobanya-Kispest metro and railway station, and number 93 connects Terminal 1 with the same station. The price is approximately 320 forints or 400, if you buy the ticket from the bus driver (May 2010). The city center can also be reached by train from Terminal 1 to Nyugati station.
Railway
Hungarian national railway transport company is MÁV. The three main stations of Budapest are: Keleti to the east, Nyugati to the west and Déli to the south. All three have national and international connections. Budapest was one of the most important stops on the Orient Express until 2001, the year in which the route was reduced to between Paris and Vienna.
Budapest's metro network is the oldest on the continent, having been inaugurated on the occasion of the "Millennium" in 1896. There is also a suburban train service in and around Budapest, which operates under the name HÉV.
Public transport
Public transport in Budapest is managed by BKV —Budapesti Közlekedési Vállalat or Budapest Transport Company—, a company that runs buses, trolleybuses, trams, commuter rail lines, metro, boat services, funicular and a chairlift called Libegő.
Budapest's tram network is extensive and reliable despite poor infrastructure and an aging fleet. Routes 4 and 6 combined form the world's busiest tram line, with the world's longest passenger trams (54 meters long Siemens Combino) running 60-90 seconds at rush hour and 3-4 minutes off-peak and usually crowded.
There are four metro lines. The Yellow Line, built in 1896, is the second oldest tube line in the world, second only to the London Underground built in 1863. However, it is also the first electrified tube line in Europe. It is followed by the red (1970), the blue (1976) and the green (2014).
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Roads
Budapest is the most important Hungarian road terminus, most of the main roads end near the city limits. The road system in the city is laid out in a similar way to that of Paris, with various ring roads, and avenues radiating from the center.
The M0 ring road around Budapest is nearing completion, with a single section missing on the west side due to local disputes. Currently, the ring road is about 80 kilometers long, and when completed, it will be about 100 kilometers long.
Sports
There are several teams that play in Budapest: Ferencvaros TC, MTK Budapest and Budapest Honvéd. Ferencvaros TC plays at the 22,000-capacity Groupama Arena and MTK Budapest and Budapest Honvéd at the 5,322-capacity Nándor Hidegkuti Stadium. Ferencvaros TC, which only had one participation in the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League, remaining in last place in Group G against Juventus, FC Barcelona and FC Dinamo Kiev with a single point achieved against Dinamo Kiev, competes in NB1 together with MTK Budapest and Budapest Honvéd. Another team is Újpest FC that plays in the Ferenc Szusza stadium with a capacity for 13,500 spectators and its best participation was in the defunct Fairs Cup, finishing runner-up against Newcastle United Football Club. And currently plays the NB1
Fluvial transport
The Danube River flows through Budapest on its way to the Black Sea. The river is easily navigable and thus Budapest has historically been an important commercial port (at Csepel). In the summer months a scheduled airboat service runs from the Danube to Vienna.
Information offices
- Tourinform Office (Sütő utca, 2)
- Office Liszt Ferenc tér (Avenida Andrássy)
- Ferihegy / 2A Tourinform Office (Budapest-Ferihegy Airport, Terminal 2A)
- Ferihegy / 2B Tourinform Office (Budapest-Ferihegy airport, terminal 2B)
International relations
Town twinning
Budapest is twinned with:
| Country | City | Region | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
 Turkey
| Istanbul | Istanbul Province | 1985 |
 Austria
| Vienna | Vienna | 1990 |
 Spain
| Madrid | Madrid | 1992 |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
| Sarajevo | Sarajevo Canton | 1995 |
 Bolivia
| La Paz | Department of La Paz | 2009 |
| Turkey
| Smirna | Esmirna Province | 1985 |
 Bulgaria
| Sofia | Sofia | |
 China
| Beijing | Beijing | 2005 |
 Croatia
| Zagreb | Zagreb | 1994 |
.svg){kind=small} France
| Paris | Île-de-France | 1956 |
 Germany
| Berlin | Berlin | 1992 |
| Germany
| Frankfurt am Main | Hessen | 1990 |
 Indonesia
| Jakarta | Jakarta | 2009 |
 Israel
| Tel Aviv | Tel Aviv District | 1989 |
 Italy
| Florence | Tuscany | 2008 |
 Poland
| Warsaw | Voivodato de Mazovia | 2005 |
 Lithuania
| Vilna | Vilna Province | |
 Portugal
| Lisbon | Lisbon District | 1992 |
 Romania
| Bucharest | Bucharest | 1991 |
 Slovakia
| Košice | Košice Region | 1997 |
 South Korea
| Daejeon | Daejeon | 1994 |
 Thailand
| Bangkok | Bangkok | 2007 |
 Ukraine
| Leópolis | Leopolis Oblate | 1993 |
 United States
| Fort Worth | Texas | 1990 |
| Turkey
| Gaziantep | Gaziantep Province | 2010 |
| United States
| New York | New York | 1992 |
Collaboration
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Predecessor: Helsinki |  Headquarters of the Sessions of the World Heritage Committee 2001 | Successor: Paris |
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