Budapest /ˈbuːdəpɛst/[1] (Hungarian: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt] (
); names in other languages) is the capital and the largest city of Hungary,[2] and one of the largest cities in the European Union. It is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre,[3] sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary.[4] In 2011, according to the census, Budapest had 1.74 million inhabitants,[5] down from its 1989 peak of 2.1 million[6] due to suburbanization.[7] The Budapest Commuter Area is home to 3.3 million people.[8][9] The city covers an area of 525 square kilometres (202.7 sq mi)[10] within the city limits. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of west-bank Buda and Óbuda with east-bank Pest.[10][11]
); names in other languages) is the capital and the largest city of Hungary,[2] and one of the largest cities in the European Union. It is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre,[3] sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary.[4] In 2011, according to the census, Budapest had 1.74 million inhabitants,[5] down from its 1989 peak of 2.1 million[6] due to suburbanization.[7] The Budapest Commuter Area is home to 3.3 million people.[8][9] The city covers an area of 525 square kilometres (202.7 sq mi)[10] within the city limits. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of west-bank Buda and Óbuda with east-bank Pest.[10][11]
The history of Budapest began with Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement[12][13] that became the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia.[12] Hungarians arrived in the territory[14] in the 9th century. Their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241–42.[15] The re-established town became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture[16] in the 15th century.[17]Following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule,[18] the region entered a new age of prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Budapest became a global cityafter the 1873 unification.[19] It also became the second capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a great power that dissolved in 1918, following World War I. Budapest was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Republic of Councils of 1919, Operation Panzerfaust in 1944, the Battle of Budapest in 1945, and the Revolution of 1956.
Cited as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe,[2][20][21] its extensive World Heritage Site includes the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, Andrássy Avenue, Heroes' Square and the Millennium Underground Railway, the second oldest in the world.[20][22] Other highlights include a total of 80 geothermal springs,[23] the world's largest thermal water cave system,[24] second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building. The city attracts about 4.3 million tourists a year, making it the 25th most popular city in the world (and the 6th in Europe) according to Euromonitor.[25]
Considered a financial hub in Central Europe,[26] the city ranked 3rd (out of 65 cities) on Mastercard's Emerging Markets Index,[27] and ranked as the most livable Central/Eastern European city on EIU's quality of life index.[28][29] It is also ranked as "the world's second best city" by Condé Nast Traveler,[30] "Europe's 7th most idyllic place to live" by Forbes,[31] and as the 9th most beautiful city in the world by UCityGuides.[32] It is the highest ranked Central/Eastern European city on Innovation Cities' Top 100 index.[33][34]
Budapest is home to the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT),[35] and the first foreign office of the China Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA).[36]
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[show]Etymology[edit]
The name "Budapest" is the composition of the city names "Buda" and "Pest", since they were united (together with Óbuda) to become a single city in 1873.[37] One of the first occurrences of the combined name "Buda-Pest" was in 1831 in the book "Világ" ("World" / "Light"), written by Count István Széchenyi.[38]
The origins of the words "Buda" and "Pest" are obscure. According to chronicles from the Middle Ages the name "Buda" comes from the name of its founder, Bleda (Buda), the brother of the Hunnic ruler Attila. The theory that "Buda" was named after a person is also supported by modern scholars.[39] An alternative explanation suggests that "Buda" derives from the Slavic word "вода, voda" ("water"), a translation of the Latin name "Aquincum", which was the main Roman settlement in the region.[40]
There are also several theories about the origin of the name "Pest". One of the theories[41] claims that the word "Pest" comes from the Roman times, since there was a fortress "Contra-Aquincum" in this region which was referred to as "Pession" ("Πέσσιον", iii.7.§2) by Ptolemaios.[42] According to another theory, "Pest" originates from the Slavic word for cave "пещера,peshchera" or from the word for oven "печь, pech'", in reference to a cave where fires burned or to a local limekiln.[43] In the old-Hungarian language there was a similar word meaning oven/cave and the original old-German name of this region was also "Ofen". Later, the German "Ofen" referred to the Buda side.
History[edit]
Main article: History of Budapest
The first settlement on the territory of Budapest was built by Celts[12] before 1 AD. It was later occupied by the Romans. The Roman settlement - Aquincum - became the main city ofLower Pannonia[12] in 106 AD.[12] At first it was a military settlement and gradually the city raised around it becoming the focal point of the commercial life.Today this area correspond to the Óbuda district within Budapest.[44] The Romans constructed roads, amphitheaters, baths and houses with heated floors in this fortified military camp.[45] Acquincum is the foremost and best-conserved of the Roman sites in Hungary. The archeological site was turned into a museum with inside and open-air section.
The peace treaty of 829 added Pannonia to Bulgaria due to the victory of Bulgarian army of Omurtag over the Holy Roman Empire of Louis the Pious. Budapest arose out of two Bulgarian military frontiers, fortresses Buda and Pest, situated on the two banks of Danube.[46] Hungarians led by Árpád settled in the territory at the end of the 9th century,[14][47] and a century later officially founded the Kingdom of Hungary.[14] Research places the probable residence of the Árpáds as an early place of central power near what became Budapest.[48] The Tatarinvasion in the 13th century quickly proved that defence is difficult on a plain.[10][14] King Béla IV of Hungary therefore ordered the construction of reinforced stone walls around the towns[14] and set his own royal palace[15] on the top of the protecting hills of Buda. In 1361[15] it became the capital of Hungary.[10]
The cultural role of Buda was particularly significant during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus.[10] The Italian Renaissance had a great influence on the city.[10] His library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana,[10] was Europe's greatest collection of historical chronicles and philosophic and scientific works in the 15th century, and second only in size to the Vatican Library.[10] After the foundation of the first Hungarian university in Pécs in 1367 (University of Pécs),[49] the second one was established in Óbuda in 1395 (University of Óbuda).[49] The first Hungarian book was printed in Buda in 1473.[50] Buda had about 5,000 inhabitants around 1500.[51]
The Ottomans pillaged Buda in 1526, besieged it in 1529, and finally occupied it in 1541. The Turkish occupation lasted for more than 140 years.[10] The Turks constructed many fine bathing facilities within the city.[14] Some of the baths that the Turks erected during their occupation period are still in function after 500 years (Rudas baths and Király Baths). Under Ottoman rule many Christians became Muslim. By 1547 the number of Christians was down to about a thousand, and by 1647 it had fallen to only about seventy.[51] The unoccupied western part of the country became part of the Habsburg Empire as Royal Hungary.
In 1686, two years after the unsuccessful siege of Buda, a renewed campaign was started to enter the Hungarian capital. This time, the Holy League's army was twice as large, containing over 74,000 men, including German, Croat, Dutch, Hungarian, English, Spanish, Czech, Italian, French, Burgundian, Danish and Swedish soldiers, along with other Europeans as volunteers, artillerymen, and officers, the Christian forces reconquered Buda, and in the next few years, all of the former Hungarian lands, except areas near Timişoara (Temesvár), were taken from the Turks. In the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz these territorial changes were officially recognized, and in 1718 the entire Kingdom of Hungary was removed from Ottoman rule. The city was destroyed during the battle.[10] Hungary was then incorporated into the Habsburg Empire.[10]
1867 was the year of Reconciliation that brought about the birth of Austria-Hungary. The 19th century was dominated by the Hungarian struggle for independence[10] and modernization. The national insurrection against the Habsburgs began in the Hungarian capital in 1848 and was defeated a little more than a year later. This made Budapest the twin capital of a dual monarchy. It was this compromise which opened the second great phase of development in the history of Budapest, lasting until World War I. In 1849 the Chain Bridge linking Buda with Pest was opened as the first permanent bridge across the Danube[52] and in 1873 Buda and Pest were officially merged with the third part, Óbuda (Ancient Buda), thus creating the new metropolis of Budapest. The dynamic Pest grew into the country's administrative, political, economic, trade and cultural hub. Ethnic Hungarians overtook Germans in the second half of the 19th century due to mass migration from the overpopulated rural Transdanubia and Great Hungarian Plain. Between 1851 and 1910 the proportion of Hungarians increased from 35.6% to 85.9%, Hungarian became the dominant language, and German was crowded out. The proportion of Jews peaked in 1900 with 23.6%.[53][54][55] Due to the prosperity and the large Jewish community of the city at the start of the 20th century, Budapest was often called the "Jewish Mecca"[56] or "Judapest".[57][58]
In 1918 Austria-Hungary lost the war and collapsed; Hungary declared itself an independent republic (Republic of Hungary). In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon finalized the country's partition, as a result, Hungary lost over two-thirds of its territory, and about two-thirds of its inhabitants under the treaty, including 3.3 million out of 10 million ethnic Hungarians.[59][60]
In 1944, about one year before the end of World War II, Budapest was partly destroyed by British and American air raids (first attack 4 April 1944,[61]). From 24 December 1944 to 13 February 1945, the city was besieged during the Battle of Budapest. Budapest suffered major damage caused by the attacking Soviet and Romanian troops and the defending German andHungarian troops. More than 38,000 civilians lost their lives during the conflict. All bridges were destroyed by the Germans. The stone lions of the Chain Bridge that have taken their place in 1852 survived the devastation of the war.
Between 20% and 40% of Greater Budapest's 250,000 Jewish inhabitants died through Nazi and Arrow Cross Party genocide during 1944 and early 1945.[62] The Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg managed to save the lives of tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest by giving them Swedish passports and taking them under his consular protection.[63]
(also see Hungary during World War II)
In 1949, Hungary was declared a communist People's Republic (People's Republic of Hungary). The new Communist government considered the buildings like theBuda Castle symbols of the former regime, and during the 1950s the palace was gutted and all the interiors were destroyed (also see Stalin era).
On 23 October 1956, there was a large peaceful demonstration in Budapest demanding democratic changes. The demonstrators went to the Budapest radio station and demanded to publish their demands. The regime ordered to shoot into the crowd. Hungarian soldiers gave rifles to the demonstrators who were now able to capture the building. This was the beginning of the Hungarian Revolution. The demonstrators demanded to appoint Imre Nagy to be Prime Minister of Hungary. To their surprise, the central committee of the "Hungarian Working People's Party" did so in the same evening.
This uprising was an anti-Soviet revolt that lasted from 23 October until 11 November. After Nagy had declared Hungary leaving the Warsaw Pact and becoming neutral, Soviet tanks and troops entered the country to crush the revolt. Fighting continued until mid November, leaving more than 3000 dead. A monument was erected at the 50-years anniversary of the revolt in 2006, at the edge of the City Park. Its shape is a wedge with a 56 angle degree made in rusted iron that gradually becomes shiny, ending in an intersection to symbolize Hungarian forces that temporarily eradicated the Communist dictatorship.
From the 1960s to the late 1980s Hungary was often satirically referred to as "the happiest barrack" within the Eastern bloc, and much of the wartime damage to the city was finally repaired. Work on Erzsébet Bridge, the last to be rebuilt, was finished in 1964. In the early 1970s, Budapest Metro's East-West M2 line was first opened, followed by the M3 line in 1976. In 1987, Buda Castle and the banks of the Danube were included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Andrassy Avenue (including the Millennium Underground Railway, Hősök tere, and Városliget) was added to the UNESCO list in 2002. In the 1980s the city's population reached 2.1 million. In recent times a significant decrease in population occurred mainly due to a massive movement to the neighbouring agglomeration in Pest county.
In the last decades of the 20th century the political changes of 1989–90 (Fall of the Iron Curtain) concealed changes in civil society and along the streets of Budapest. The monuments of the dictatorship were taken down from public places, into Memento Park. In the first 20 years of the new democracy, the development of the city was managed by mayor Gábor Demszky.
Timeline of the history of Budapest[edit]
 | It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article titled Timeline of Budapest history. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2014. |
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| BC | Neolithic, Chalcolithic-, bronze and iron age cultures, Celtic and Eravisci settlements on present day Budapest. |
| 1st century | Romans found the settlements known as Aquincum, Contra-Aquincum and Campona. Aquincum becomes the largest town of the Danubian region and one of the capitals of Pannonia. |
| 5th century | The Age of Huns. King Attila builds a city for himself here according to later chronicles. After his death, the sons of his brother Mundzuk (Hungarian: Bendegúz, Turkish: Boncuk), Attila and Bleda (Hungarian:Buda), in control of the united Hun tribes.[citation needed] |
| 896 | Following the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, Árpád, Grand Prince of the Hungarians, settles in the "Town of Attila", usually identified as Aquincum. |
| 1046 | Bishop Gellért dies at the hands of pagans on present-day Gellért Hill. |
| 1241 | Tatar invasions destroy both towns. King Béla IV builds the first royal castle on Castle Hill, Buda in 1248. The new town adopts the name of Buda from the earlier one (present day Óbuda). Pest is surrounded by city walls. |
| 1270 | Saint Margaret of Hungary dies in a cloister on the Isle of Rabbits (present day Margaret Island). |
| 1458 | The noblemen of Hungary elect Matthias Corvinus (in Latin) or Hunyadi Mátyás (in Hungarian) as king on the ice of the Danube. Under his reign Buda becomes a main hub of European Renaissance. He dies in 1490, after capturing Vienna in 1485. |
| 1541 | The beginning of Ottoman occupation. The Turkish Pashas build multiple mosques and baths in Buda. |
| 1602 | An unsuccessful assault on Budapest under Feldmarschall Christof Hermann Graf von Rußworm (2 October - 15 November 1602). |
| 1686 | Buda and Pest are reconquered from the Turks with Habsburg leadership. Both towns are destroyed completely in the battles. |
| 1690s | Resettlement of Hungary, initially only a few hundred German settlers. |
| 1773 | Election of the first Mayor of Pest. |
| 1777 | Maria Theresa of Austria moves Nagyszombat University to Castle Hill. |
| 1783 | Joseph II places the acting government (Helytartótanács) and Magyar Kamara on Buda. |
| 1795 20 May | Ignác Martinovics and other Jacobin leaders are executed on Vérmező or 'The Field of Blood'. |
| 1810 | A fire in the Tabán district. |
| 1825 | Commencement of the Reform Era. Pest becomes the cultural and economic centre of the country. The first National Theatre is built, along with the Hungarian National Museum. |
| 1838 | The biggest flood in recent memory in March completely inundates Pest. |
| 1848 15 March | Start of the Revolution and War of Independence of 1848-49. Pest replaces Pozsony/Pressburg (Bratislava) as the new capital of Hungary and seat of the Batthyány government and the Parliament. |
| 1849 | The Austrians occupy the city in early January, but the Hungarian Honvédsereg (Army of National Defense) reclaims it in April, taking the fortress of Buda on 21 May after an 18-day siege. In July, the Habsburg army again captures the two towns. |
| 1849 6 October | Lajos Batthyány, the first Hungarian Prime Minister is executed on the present-day Szabadság tér. |
| 1849 | Széchenyi Lánchíd, or Széchenyi Chain Bridge, the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Budapest was opened linking Buda (West bank) and Pest (East bank). |
| 1867 | Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, followed by unprecedented civic development, resulting in the style of present day Budapest. |
| 1873 | The former cities: Pest, Buda and Óbuda are united, and with that the Hungarian capital is established with the name of Budapest. |
| 1874 | The Budapest Cog-wheel Railway service is inaugurated. |
| 1878 | Electric public lighting was installed in all streets of the city centre.
The first telephone exchange was installed in Budapest.
|
| 1893 | Electrification of Budapest finished |
| 1896 | Millennium celebrations, the Millennium Underground is inaugurated, and the Ferenc József híd (today's Freedom Bridge) is opened. |
| 1909–1910 | Electric public lighting expanded to the suburbs, the nearby towns villages had Electric public lighting. |
| 1910 | The census finds 880,000 people in Budapest and 55,000 in the largest suburb of Újpest (now part of Budapest). |
| 1918–1919 | Following the conclusion of World War I, the Hungarian Republic of Councils is founded and 133 days later overthrown by the Romanian army which then makes excessive requisitions in Budapest. They regarded this as gathering war reparations, while others classify it as looting.[64][65] |
| 1924 | Hungarian National Bank is founded. |
| 1925 | Hungarian Radio commences broadcasting. |
| 1933 | Disassembly of the Tabán commences. |
| 1944 19 March | The Germans occupy Budapest. At the time of the occupation, there were 184,000 Jews and between 65,000 and 80,000 Christians of Jewish descent in the town. The Arrow Cross collaborated with the Germans in murdering Jews. Fewer than half of Budapest's Jews (approximately 119,000) survived the following 11 months. |
| 1944 26 December - 13 February | Soviet and Romanian troops besiege Budapest from 15 to 18 January. The retreating Germans destroy all Danube bridges. On 18 January, the Soviets complete the occupation of Pest. The Buda castle falls on 13 February. World War II took the lives of close to 200,000 Budapest residents and caused widespread damage to nearly all of the buildings in the city. |
| 1956 23 October - 4 November | The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 breaks out, ending in the invasion of a large Soviet force. |
| 1960s | Wartime damage is largely repaired. Work on the final bridge to be repaired, the Elizabeth Bridge is finished in 1964. |
| 1970–1972 | The first phase of the East-Western Metro begins. |
| 1976 | The first phase of the North-Southern Metro begins. |
| 1987 | Castle Hill and the banks of the Danube are included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. |
| 1989 | 19 August. Hundreds of East German citizens escape to West at the western frontier of Hungary with the help of the Hungarian Democratic Forum. |
| 1990 | The city is home to 2,016,100 residents. |
| 2002 | Andrássy Avenue is added to the list of World heritage Sites, along with the Millennium Underground railway and Heroes' Square. |
| 2006 | 2006 Hungarian protests. |
| 2010 | Sewage treatment of the city reaches near 100% of generated sewage. |
Geography[edit]
The 525 km2 area of Budapest lies in central Hungary surrounded by settlements of the agglomeration in Pest county. The capital extends 25 km (16 mi) and 29 km (18 mi) in the north-south, east-west direction respectively. The Danube enters the city from the north; later it encircles two islands, Óbuda Island and Margaret Island.[10] The third island Csepel Island is the largest of the Budapest Danube islands, however only its northernmost tip is within city limits. The river that separates the two parts of the city is only 230 m (755 ft) wide at its narrowest point in Budapest.Pest lies on the flat terrain of the Great Plain while Buda is rather hilly.[10] Pest's terrain rises with a slight eastward gradient, so the easternmost parts of the city lie at the same altitude as Buda's smallest hills, notably Gellért Hill and Castle Hill. The Buda hills consist mainly of limestone and dolomite, the water created speleothems, the most famous ones being the Pálvölgyi cave and the Szemlőhegyi cave. The hills were formed in the Triassic Period. The highest point of the hills and of Budapest is János hill, at 527 metres (1,729 ft) above sea level. The lowest point is the line of the Danube which is 96 metres (315 ft) above sea level. The forests of Buda hills are environmentally protected.
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