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Hungary's ebullient capital area is home to almost a quarter of the country's population, and straddles a bend of the Danube River. Although the Romans had established the town of Aquincum nearby, the city's current form dates to 1873 when Buda in the hills on the western shore merged with industrial Pest in the flatlands to the east. The city is not without its charms, although it suffered much devastation from the 1848 Revolution, World War II, and the 1956 Uprising.
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| Two views (above) of Pest from atop Castle Hill on the Buda (west) side of the Danube. The domed structure visible in both photos is the Hungarian Parliament building, completed in 1902. | |
The 170m high Castle Hill is crowned by a royal palace which today houses a collection of museums. The current building is a reconstruction; the original was bombed in WWII. |
Within the confines of the walled enclosure atop Castle Hill is the Old Town (Vár), where commoners lived in the Middle Ages. |
This is the contrasting view across the Danube of Castle Hill from the Pest (east) side. |
Although much of Pest is drab and industrial, the central area has many attractive plazas and trendy shops. |
Rooftops in Pest. At least from this elevation, there is credence to Budapest's former moniker as the "Paris of Eastern Europe". |
Impromptu open air markets are a common sight, especially on weekends. |
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| Budapest has been known since at least Ottoman times for its hot mineral baths (see, eg, the site of Hotel Gellert), which attract large summer crowds. | |
A street in Pest gives an idea of the wealth of Art Nouveau and similar buildings from around the turn of the last century. |
The Millenary Monument in Pest is dedicated to the Magyar chieftains who occupied the Carpathian Basin from the 9C on. |
Budapest's Western Railway Station was opened in 1884, and was designed by Eiffel. It was at the time the most modern edifice of the kind in Europe. |
On the outskirts of Budapest is Szobor (Statue) Park, a refuge for cast off monuments of the socialist era from throughout eastern Europe. |
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| Marx, Engels, Lenin, and their comrades from the People's Republics still reign supreme in this deserted and largely forgotten corner of Hungary. | |
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| Just 19kms north of Budapest on the banks of the Danube is the small town of Szentendre (St Andrew), which has become an artist colony and weekend retreat for city dwellers. The photo at left shows the small central square (Fö tér) and its Plague Cross (1763). | |
Sign of the times - the discredited and fateful date of May 1 no longer serves as a street name in Szentendre. |
Map courtesy of Lonely Planet. |
