BUDAPEST

Tourist Tips:

Budapest looks its most beautiful at dawn. As the sun slowly rises over the eastern plains, bathing Pest in soft pastel hues, it radiates back from the buildings of Buda as if they were a giant mirror; the windows on Castle Hill positively glisten in golden jubilation. But Budapest is also spectacularly appealing at night. The Chain Bridge is festooned with white lights, and the main public buildings like the Parliament, the Opera and the Royal Palace, as well as the entire panorama of the Castle District, are imaginatively and sensitively floodlit. It’s easy for Budapest to play with light in the manner of an elegant lady trying on her jewels, for everything looks good.

This is a vibrant city: it throbs with life morning, noon and night; visitors arriving from other countries get the feeling that something interesting is happening round every corner.

The Danube:

The inspiration for Strauss and so many other artisits, the Danube flows through Budapest on its way to the Black Sea. The river is easily navigable and so Budapest has historically been a major commercial port (at Csepel).

We would thoroughly recommend a river tour on the Danube, a wonderful way to see this beautiful city.

Theraputic Waters:

The abundance of medicinal waters in Budapest is unparalleled. A capital city featuring the highest number of medical thermal springs in the world, Budapest was granted the title of "Spa City" in 1934.

The Celts and the Romans used the hot springs on the Buda side, and the name of Aquincum may also refer to the springs. (The name may be a derivation from the Celtic word for 'water', or from the Latin aqua quinque, 'five waters'.)

There is probably no other capital city on the globe with swimming pools and bathing halls dating back to the Turkish occupation and still in use today, with thermal spas irradiating the rich colours and forms of Art Nouveau and featuring one of the largest spas in Europe.

There are 24 medical spas, public baths, indoor and outdoor swimming pools in the capital today, ten with a special medical capacity and therapeutic value. The following provides a brief introduction to the most interesting ones:

• Csillaghegy Open Bath
• Palatinus Open Bath
• Gellert Thermal Baths and Swimming Pool
• Kiraly Thermal Baths
• Lukacs Thermal Baths and Swimming Pool
• Rac Thermal Baths
• Rudas Thermal Baths and Swimming Pool
• Szechenyi Thermal Baths and Swimming Pool

The Buda Side:

Gellert Hill:

The hill (that some believe used to be the meeting place of witches) today offers the most beautiful panoramic view of the city. The hill was named after Bishop Gellert (Gerald) renowned for propagating Christianity in Hungary. Tradition has it that he was sealed up in a barrel and thrown into the river Danube from the hill by insurgent pagan Magyars rebelling against Christendom after the death of the first king St. Stephen.

The terraces of the Citadel built on the hilltop offer the best view of the city, and telescopes help one to catch all the details. It was built by the Austrians after the repression of the 1848-1849 War of Independence to provide military control over the town.
 
Liberation Monument, the statue of a woman visible from almost any point in town, was erected in 1947 to commemorate liberation from Nazi occupation. (The statue of the Soviet soldier which was removed from the monument in 1992 can be seen in the Statue Park Museum.) Firework rockets marking August 20 every year are launched from this point on Gellert Hill.
 

Buda Castle:

The name Buda Castle covers more than a castle or the Royal Palace in the capital city; it extends to the historical quarter full of sites. On bright spring days people invite friends for a "walk in the Castle", i.e. to wander around the Castle Hill quarter. The most exiting way of getting to the Castle is by taking the Funicular, a little cable car up the Castle Hill.

The Royal Palace:

The Royal Palace is situated on the southern part of Castle Hill. The medieval palace that stood here was destroyed during the battles against Turkish invaders, leaving only the fortified walls as a memento. The site was then filled in to lay the foundations of the new grandiose Baroque palace started by Maria-Theresa and expanded on Hungarian initiative in the 19th century. The Palace itself was gutted during the Second World War. Unfortunately there is no place in the Palace today that would allow the visitor a glimpse of the lavish suites and interiors of past royals. Today, it functions as home to important cultural institutions and museums: Hungarian National Gallery, the National Szechenyi Library, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Budapest History Museum.

Castle District:

The Castle District is one of the most romantic pedestrian sections in Budapest. A medieval little town with atmospheric streets, picturesque houses, gas lamps and beautiful monuments. The main street of the district - Tarnok Street - ranges from Disz Square to today's district centre, Matthias Church. Colourful little houses border the square and the neighbouring streets. The winding streets and narrow houses date back to the Middle Ages, occasionally decorated with valuable Gothic window and door frames. Elegant Baroque and Louis XVI-style palaces are relics of the restoration work after the Turkish occupation.

Matthias Church:

The church bears the name of its biggest Maecenas, King Matthias, who married twice in this shrine. The cathedral is almost as old as the Royal Palace and has been the venue of several coronation ceremonies.

Every king and epoque left its mark on the building until the Turks occupied Buda in 1541 and converted the temple into a mosque, whitewashing - and thus preserving - its medieval frescos. Matthias Church gained its current form at the turn of the century when a lot of smaller buildings attached to it earlier were pulled down and the church was reconstructed in characteristic neo-Gothic style. In addition to the usual biblical scenes, its frescos tell of the most important events in Hungary's history. The magnificent acoustics make it a popular concert venue.

Mary Magdalene Tower:

Only the tower of the church of the former Buda garrison, destroyed in World War II, stands. Behind it a garden of ruins displays the history of the church from the 13th century. The restoration of the tower was completed in 1997, and today it is open to the public as a lookout tower. Of particular interest is the 24-piece glockenspiel, which rings every 15 minutes daily 8.00-21.00.

Cave System:

Another point of interest of the Castle Hill on the Buda side is that almost every house in the quarter has cellars several storeys deep running down into the hill. These cellars were connected into a several-kilometre-long corridor system in the Middle Ages and served a useful purpose in times of war.

Defenders of the area used the casemate system to speedily relocate troops to more threatened points of the district, suggesting far greater numbers to the enemy than they actually were and thus the area could be defended with limited troops.

One section of the cellar system was turned into what is known as the Labyrinth of the Buda Castle with remarkable historical walk-through tableaux.

The Link:

Eight bridges link Buda to Pest but the Chain Bridge is the first and most famous, with its solid arches and lion statues. Count Istvan Szechenyi commissioned the Englishman responsible for London’s Hammersmith Bridge, William Tierney Clark, to design a bridge, and the Scotsman, Adam Clark, to oversee construction. Completed in 1848, the bridge was inaugurated in 1849, allowing for the integration of Buda, Pest and Obuda in 1872.

The Nazis having done considerable damage, the bridge was repaired and re-inaugurated on 21 November 1949. Adam Clark is honoured in a small square at the foot of the bridge. The kilometre zero, the point from which all distances from Budapest are measured, is located here.

Its two ends are:

Roosevelt square (with the Gresham Palace and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) and Adam Clark square (the Zero Kilometre Stone, and the lower end of the Budapest Funicular, leading to the Buda Castle).

In its time, its counterpart could be found only in England, and it iscounted as a wonder of the world. It had an enormous significance in the country's economics and daily life. It became a symbol of advance, the national awakening, and the linkage between East and West.

Pest Side (Downtown):

Budapest Zoo:

Budapest Zoo is a pleasant day out for all the family. It first opened in 1866 and has in the last decade undergone significant modernisation. Some of its buildings are particularly fine examples of Hungarian art nouveau. Five hundred types of animal and 4,000 different plants live within its 250 acres. The animal petting area is especially popular with children – they can come into close contact with and feed the goats, small cows and sheep.

Margaret Island:

Budapest's finest green spot is Margaret Island (Margitsziget) located in the middle of the river Danube between Margaret Bridge and Arpad Bridge. Originally there were three islands here, the islands of Spa, Pictor and Rabbits. These were framed with a common concrete shore as part of river regulation efforts in the 19th century and so the two and a half kilometre long island was formed.

The island was already inhabited by Roman times; in the Middle Ages monks preferred the island for its calm and kings for its excellent hunting. The island bears the name of Margit (Margaret), daughter of King Bela IV (Adalbert), who renounced the world and entered the island's convent after surviving the rampage of the Tatars in the 13th century. The Turkish occupation in the 15th century put an abrupt end to the cloister island's blossoming. After centuries of neglect, the island was reborn in the 19th century when an open park and entertainment centre was opened to the general public. This was made possible by the Margaret Bridge embranchment built to the island in 1900, opening the island to pedestrians.

Other suggestions if you have some time in this glorious capital:

• Houses of parliament
• Grand Market Hall
• Vorosmarty Square
• Ferenciek Square
• Danube Cruises
• Statue's Park
• Jewish Synagogue
• St. Stephens Basilica
• Heroes Square
• Fishermen's Bastion
• Trinity Square
• Elisabeth Bridge
• Liberty Bridge
• Margaret Bridge

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