Budapest

For other uses, see Budapest (disambiguation).

Budapest[8] (Hungarian: [budpt]; names in other lan-guages) is the capital and the largest city of Hungary,[9]and one of the largest cities in Central Europe. It isthe countrys principal political, cultural, commercial,industrial, and transportation centre,[10] sometimes de-scribed as the primate city of Hungary.[11] In 2011,according to the census, Budapest had 1.74 millioninhabitants,[12] down from its 1989 peak of 2.1 million[13]due to suburbanisation.[14] The Budapest MetropolitanArea is home to 3.3 million people.[15][16] The city coversan area of 525 square kilometres (202.7 sq mi).[17] Bu-dapest became a single city occupying both banks of theriver Danube with its unication on 17 November 1873of Buda and buda, on the west bank, with Pest, on theeast bank.[17][18]

The history of Budapest began with Aquincum, origi-nally a Celtic settlement[19][20] that became the Romancapital of Pannonia Inferior.[19] Hungarians arrived inthe territory[21] in the 9th century. Their rst set-tlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 124142.[22]The re-established town became one of the centres ofRenaissance humanist culture[23] by the 15th century.[24]Following the Battle of Mohcs and nearly 150 years ofOttoman rule,[25] the region entered a new age of prosper-ity in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Budapest became aglobal city after its unication in 1873.[26] It also becamethe second capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, agreat power that dissolved in 1918, following World WarI. Budapest was the focal point of the Hungarian Revo-lution of 1848, the Hungarian Republic of Councils of1919, Operation Panzerfaust in 1944, the Battle of Bu-dapest in 1945, and the Revolution of 1956.Cited as one of the most beautiful cities inEurope,[9][27][28] Budapests extensive World Her-itage Site includes the banks of the Danube, the BudaCastle Quarter, Andrssy Avenue, Heroes Square andthe Millennium Underground Railway, the second-oldest metro line in the world.[27][29] It has around 80geothermal springs,[30] the worlds largest thermal watercave system,[31] second largest synagogue, and thirdlargest Parliament building. The city attracts about 4.4million tourists a year, making it the 25th most popularcity in the world, and the 6th in Europe, according toEuromonitor.[32]

Considered a nancial hub in Central Europe,[33] thecity ranked third on Mastercard's Emerging Markets In-

dex,[34] and ranked as the most liveable Central or East-ern European city on EIU's quality of life index.[35][36]It is also ranked as the worlds second best city byCond Nast Traveler,[37] and Europes 7th most idyllicplace to live by Forbes,[38] It is the highest ranked Cen-tral/Eastern European city on Innovation Cities Top 100index.[39][40]

Budapest is home to the headquarters of the EuropeanInstitute of Innovation and Technology (EIT),[41] andthe rst foreign oce of the China Investment Promo-tion Agency (CIPA).[42] Eighteen universities are situatedin Budapest, including the Central European University,Etvs Lornd University and the Budapest University ofTechnology and Economics.

1 EtymologyBudapest is the combination of the city names Budaand Pest, which were (together with buda) united into asingle city in 1873.[43] One of the rst documented occur-rences of the combined name Buda-Pest was in 1831 inthe book Vilg (World / Light), written by CountIstvn Szchenyi.[44]

The origins of the names Buda and Pest are obscure. Ac-cording to chronicles from the Middle Ages the nameBuda comes from the name of its founder, Bleda (Buda),the brother of the Hunnic ruler Attila. The theory thatBuda was named after a person is also supported bymodern scholars.[45] An alternative explanation suggeststhat Buda derives from the Slavic word , voda (wa-ter), a translation of the Latin name Aquincum, whichwas the main Roman settlement in the region.[46]

There are also several theories about the origin of thename Pest. One of the theories[47] claims that theword Pest comes from the Roman times, since therewas a fortress "Contra-Aquincum" in this region whichwas referred to as Pession ("", iii.7.2) byPtolemaios.[48] According to another theory, Pest origi-nates from the Slavic word for cave ", peshchera"or from the word for oven (, pech), in reference to acave where res burned or to a local limekiln.[49]

2 HistoryMain articles: History of Budapest and Timeline ofBudapest

1

2 2 HISTORY

2.1 Early history

The rst settlement on the territory of Budapest was builtby Celts[19] before 1 AD. It was later occupied by theRomans. The Roman settlement Aquincum becamethe main city of Pannonia Inferior in 106 AD.[19] Atrst it was a military settlement and gradually the cityraised around it becoming the focal point of the commer-cial life. Today this area correspond to the buda dis-trict within Budapest.[50] The Romans constructed roads,amphitheaters, baths and houses with heated oors in thisfortied military camp.[51] Acquincum is the foremostand best-conserved of the Roman sites in Hungary. Thearchaeological site was turned into a museum with insideand open-air section.

Buda during the Middle Ages, woodcut from the NurembergChronicle (1493)

The peace treaty of 829 added Pannonia to Bulgariadue to the victory of Bulgarian army of Omurtag overthe Holy Roman Empire of Louis the Pious. Budapestarose out of two Bulgarian military frontiers, fortressesBuda and Pest, situated on the two banks of Danube.[52]Hungarians led by rpd settled in the territory at theend of the 9th century,[21][53] and a century later ociallyfounded the Kingdom of Hungary.[21] Research placesthe probable residence of the rpds as an early place ofcentral power near what became Budapest.[54] The Tatarinvasion in the 13th century quickly proved that defence isdicult on a plain.[17][21] King Bla IV of Hungary there-fore ordered the construction of reinforced stone wallsaround the towns[21] and set his own royal palace[22] onthe top of the protecting hills of Buda. In 1361[22] it be-came the capital of Hungary.[17]

The cultural role of Buda was particularly signicant dur-ing the reign of King Matthias Corvinus. The Italian Re-naissance had a great inuence on the city. His library,the Bibliotheca Corviniana, was Europe's greatest collec-tion of historical chronicles and philosophic and scien-tic works in the 15th century, and second only in sizeto the Vatican Library.[17] After the foundation of therst Hungarian university in Pcs in 1367 (University ofPcs), the second one was established in buda in 1395(University of buda).[55] The rst Hungarian book wasprinted in Buda in 1473.[56] Buda had about 5,000 inhab-

itants around 1500.[57]

Siege of Buda in 1686

The Ottomans pillaged Buda in 1526, besieged it in 1529,and nally occupied it in 1541.[58] The Turkish occupa-tion lasted for more than 140 years.[17] The Turks con-structed many ne bathing facilities within the city.[21]Some of the baths that the Turks erected during theiroccupation period are still in function after 500 years(Rudas Baths and Kirly Baths). Under Ottoman rulemany Christians became Muslim. By 1547 the numberof Christians was down to about a thousand, and by 1647it had fallen to only about seventy.[57] The unoccupiedwestern part of the country became part of the HabsburgEmpire as Royal Hungary.In 1686, two years after the unsuccessful siege of Buda,a renewed campaign was started to enter the Hungar-ian capital. This time, the Holy League's army wastwice as large, containing over 74,000 men, includingGerman, Croat, Dutch, Hungarian, English, Spanish,Czech, Italian, French, Burgundian, Danish and Swedishsoldiers, along with other Europeans as volunteers, ar-tillerymen, and ocers, the Christian forces reconqueredBuda, and in the next few years, all of the former Hungar-ian lands, except areas near Timioara (Temesvr), weretaken from the Turks. In the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitzthese territorial changes were ocially recognised, andin 1718 the entire Kingdom of Hungary was removedfrom Ottoman rule. The city was destroyed during thebattle.[17] Hungary was then incorporated into the Habs-burg Empire.[17]

2.2 Contemporary history after Unica-tion

The 19th century was dominated by the Hungarian strug-gle for independence[17] and modernisation. The nationalinsurrection against the Habsburgs began in the Hungar-ian capital in 1848 and was defeated a little more thana year later. 1867 was the year of Reconciliation thatbrought about the birth of Austria-Hungary. This madeBudapest the twin capital of a dual monarchy. It wasthis compromise which opened the second great phaseof development in the history of Budapest, lasting un-til World War I. In 1849 the Chain Bridge linking Buda

2.2 Contemporary history after Unication 3

The Hungarian State Opera House, built in the time of Austria-Hungary

Millennium Underground (18941896), the second oldest metroin the world (after the Metropolitan Line of London Under-ground)

Buda Castle in the 1930s

with Pest was opened as the rst permanent bridge acrossthe Danube[59] and in 1873 Buda and Pest were o-cially merged with the third part, buda (Ancient Buda),thus creating the new metropolis of Budapest. The dy-namic Pest grew into the countrys administrative, politi-cal, economic, trade and cultural hub. Ethnic Hungarians

overtook Germans in the second half of the 19th cen-tury due to mass migration from the overpopulated ru-ral Transdanubia and Great Hungarian Plain. Between1851 and 1910 the proportion of Hungarians increasedfrom 35.6% to 85.9%, Hungarian became the dominantlanguage, and German was crowded out. The propor-tion of Jews peaked in 1900 with 23.6%.[60][61][62] Dueto the prosperity and the large Jewish community of thecity at the start of the 20th century, Budapest was of-ten called the Jewish Mecca[63] or Judapest.[64][65] In1918, Austria-Hungary lost the war and collapsed; Hun-gary declared itself an independent republic (Republicof Hungary). In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon partitionedthe country, and as a result, Hungary lost over two-thirds of its territory, and about two-thirds of its in-habitants, including 3.3 million out of 10 million ethnicHungarians.[66][67]

In 1944, about one year before the end of World War II,Budapest was partly destroyed by British and Americanair raids (rst attack 4 April 1944,[68][69][70]). From 24December 1944 to 13 February 1945, the city was be-sieged during the Battle of Budapest. Budapest suf-fered major damage caused by the attacking Sovietand Romanian troops and the defending German andHungarian troops. More than 38,000 civilians lost theirlives during the conict. All bridges were destroyedby the Germans. The stone lions that have decoratedthe Chain Bridge since 1852 survived the devastation ofthe war. Between 20% and 40% of Greater Budapests250,000 Jewish inhabitants died through Nazi and ArrowCross Party genocide during 1944 and early 1945.[71] TheSwedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg managed to save thelives of tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest by givingthem Swedish passports and taking them under his con-sular protection[72] (also see Hungary during World WarII).In 1949, Hungary was declared a communist PeoplesRepublic (Peoples Republic of Hungary). The newCommunist government considered the buildings like theBuda Castle symbols of the former regime, and duringthe 1950s the palace was gutted and all the interiors weredestroyed (also see Stalin era). On 23 October 1956 citi-zens held a large peaceful demonstration in Budapest de-manding democratic changes. The demonstrators went tothe Budapest radio station and demanded to publish theirdemands. The regime ordered troops to shoot into thecrowd. Hungarian soldiers gave ries to the demonstra-tors who were now able to capture the building. This wasthe beginning of the Hungarian Revolution. The demon-strators demanded to appoint Imre Nagy to be PrimeMinister of Hungary. To their surprise, the central com-mittee of the "Hungarian Working Peoples Party" did sothat same evening. This uprising was an anti-Soviet revoltthat lasted from 23 October until 11 November. AfterNagy had declared that Hungary was to leave theWarsawPact and become neutral, Soviet tanks and troops enteredthe country to crush the revolt. Fighting continued until

4 3 GEOGRAPHY

Hungarian Jewish WWII Memorial

mid November, leaving more than 3000 dead. A monu-ment was erected at the ftieth anniversary of the revolt in2006, at the edge of the City Park. Its shape is a wedgewith a 56 angle degree made in rusted iron that gradu-ally becomes shiny, ending in an intersection to symboliseHungarian forces that temporarily eradicated the Com-munist leadership.From the 1960s to the late 1980s Hungary was oftensatirically referred to as "the happiest barrack" within theEastern bloc, and much of the wartime damage to the citywas nally repaired. Work on Erzsbet Bridge, the lastto be rebuilt, was nished in 1964. In the early 1970s,Budapest Metro's East-West M2 line was rst opened,followed by the M3 line in 1976. In 1987, Buda Cas-tle and the banks of the Danube were included in theUNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Andrassy Avenue(including the Millennium Underground Railway, Hsktere, and Vrosliget) was added to the UNESCO list in2002. In the 1980s, the citys population reached 2.1 mil-lion. In recent times a signicant decrease in populationoccurred mainly due to a massive movement to the neigh-bouring agglomeration in Pest county.In the last decades of the 20th century the politicalchanges of 198990 (Fall of the Iron Curtain) concealedchanges in civil society and along the streets of Budapest.The monuments of the dictatorship were removed frompublic places, into Memento Park. In the rst 20 yearsof the new democracy, the development of the city was

managed by its mayor, Gbor Demszky.

2.3 Historical timeline

Aquincum Museum (Aquincum was the capital of the Romanprovince of Pannonia.)

The tomb of the Turkish dervish Gl Baba in Budapest

The Recapture of Buda Castle (1686)

3 Geography

3.1 TopographyBudapest, strategically placed at the centre of theCarpathian Basin, lies on an ancient route linking the hills

3.1 Topography 5

Andrssy Avenue (1875)

Gresham Palace

Gerbeaud Confectionery

of Transdanubia with the Great Plain. By road it is 216kilometres (134mi) south-east of Vienna, 545 kilometres(339 mi) south of Warsaw, 1,565 kilometres (972 mi)south-west of Moscow, 1,122 kilometres (697 mi) northof Athens, 788 kilometres (490 mi) north-east of Milan,and 443 kilometres (275 mi) south-east of Prague.[75]

The 525 square kilometres (203 sq mi) area of Budapestlies in Central Hungary surrounded by settlements of the

Duna sor - cca. 1930

Satellite imagery illustrating the core of the Budapest Metropoli-tan Area

agglomeration in Pest county. The capital extends 25 and29 km (16 and 18 mi) in the north-south, east-west di-rection respectively. The Danube enters the city fromthe north; later it encircles two islands, buda Island andMargaret Island.[17] The third island Csepel Island is thelargest of the Budapest Danube islands, however only itsnorthernmost tip is within city limits. The river that sepa-rates the two parts of the city is 230 m (755 ft) wide at itsnarrowest point in Budapest. Pest lies on the at terrainof the Great Plain while Buda is rather hilly.[17]

The wide Danube was always fordable at this point be-cause of a small number of islands in the middle of theriver. The city has marked topographical contrasts: Budais built on the higher river terraces and hills of the west-ern side, while the considerably larger Pest spreads outon a at and featureless sand plain on the rivers oppositebank.[76] Pests terrain rises with a slight eastward gradi-ent, so the easternmost parts of the city lie at the samealtitude as Budas smallest hills, notably Gellrt Hill andCastle Hill.The Buda hills consist mainly of limestone and dolomite,

6 4 CITYSCAPE

the water created speleothems, the most famous onesbeing the Plvlgyi cave (total length 7200 m) and theSzemlhegyi cave (total length 2200 m). The hills wereformed in the Triassic Period. The highest point of thehills and of Budapest is Jnos hill, at 527metres (1,729 ft)above sea level. The lowest point is the line of the Danubewhich is 96 metres (315 ft) above sea level. Budapest isalso rich in green areas. Of the 525 square kilometres(203 sq mi) occupied by the city, 83 square kilometres(32 sq mi) is green area, park and forest.[77] The forestsof Buda hills are environmentally protected.The citys importance in terms of trac is very central,because all major European roads and European rail-way lines lead to Budapest.[78] The Danube was and isstill an important water-way and this region in the centreof the Carpathian Basin lies at the cross-roads of traderoutes.[79] Budapest is the only capital city in the worldwhich has thermal springs. Some 125 springs produce70 million litres of thermal water a day, with tempera-tures ranging up to 58 Celsius. Some of these waters havemedicinal eects due to their medically valuable mineralcontents.[78]

3.2 ClimateMain article: Climate of BudapestThe city centre has an oceanic climate (Cfb), according

The City Park Ice Rink in City Park with Vajdahunyad Castle inthe background in winter

to the Kppen climate classication system.[80] Due to itsposition far from any moderating bodies of water, thereare still large temperature dierences between seasons,but winters are too mild to be classied as humid conti-nental. Winter (November until early March) can be coldand the city receives little sunshine. Snowfall is fairly fre-quent in most years, and nighttime temperatures of 10C (14 F) are not uncommon between mid-Decemberand mid-February. The spring months (March and April)see variable conditions, with a rapid increase in the aver-age temperature. The weather in late March and Aprilis often very agreeable during the day and fresh at night.Budapests long summer - lasting from May until mid-

September - is warm or very warm. Budapest has asmuchsummer sunshine as many Mediterranean resorts. Sud-den heavy showers also occur, particularly in May andJune. The autumn in Budapest (mid-September until lateOctober) is characterised by little rain and long sunnydays with moderate temperatures. Temperatures oftenturn abruptly colder in late October.Mean annual precipitation in Budapest is around 23.5inches (600 mm). On average, there are 78 days withprecipitation and 1988 hours of sunshine (of a possible4383) each year.[2][81][82]

The city lies on the boundary between Zone 6 and Zone7 in terms of the hardiness zone.[83][84]

4 Cityscape

Panorama of Budapest photographed from Gellrt Hill,showing from left to right the Matthias Church, BudaCastle, Szchenyi Chain Bridge, Danube Promenade andthe Parliament

The same panorama at night

4.1 Architecture 7

4.1 ArchitectureSee also: Category:Buildings and structures in BudapestBudapest has architecturally noteworthy buildings in a

Buda Castle at night viewed from Danube Promenade

wide range of styles and from distinct time periods, fromthe ancient times as Roman City of Aquincum in buda(District III), which dates to around 89 AD, to the mostmodern Palace of Arts, the contemporary arts museumand concert hall.[86][87][88]

Most buildings in Budapest are relatively low: in the early2010s there were around 100 buildings higher than 45metres (148 ft). The number of high-rise buildings is keptlow by building legislation, which is aimed at preservingthe historic cityscape and to meet the requirements of theWorld Heritage Site. Strong rules apply to the planning,authorisation and construction of high-rise buildings andconsequently much of the inner city does not have any.But Budapest is planning to ease rules for the constructionof skyscrapers and in the near future would like to buildskyscrapers around the citys historic core.[89][90][91]

The ruins of the civil town of Aquincum and the Museum in Bu-dapest

In the chronological order of architectural styles Budapestrepresents on the entire timeline. Start with the RomanCity of Aquincum represents the ancient architecture.The next determinative style is the Gothic architecture inBudapest. The few remaining ones can be found in theCastle District. Buildings to look for are no. 18, 20 and22 on Orszghz Street, which date back to the 14th cen-tury and No. 31 ri Street, which has a Gothic faade

Matthias Church in Budapest, built in Gothic style

The worldwide best known building of Budapest, the HungarianParliament, completed in 1904.

that dates back to the 15th century. Another buildingwith Gothic remains is the Inner City Parish Church inPest, built in the 12th century.[92] The most character-istic Gothic-style buildings are actually Neo-Gothic, likethe most well-known Budapest landmarks, the HungarianParliament Building and the Matthias Church, wheremuch of the original material was used (originally builtin Romanesque style in 1015).

8 4 CITYSCAPE

The next chapter of the human architecture is theRenaissance architecture and one of the earliest placesto be inuenced by the Renaissance style of architecturewas Hungary and Budapest. The style appeared follow-ing the marriage of King Matthias Corvinus and Beatriceof Naples in 1476. Many Italian artists, craftsmen andmasons came to Buda with the new queen. Today, manyof the original renaissance buildings disappeared duringthe varied history of Buda, but Budapest is still rich in re-naissance and neo-renaissance buildings, like the famousHungarian State Opera House, the St. Stephens Basilicaand the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.During the Turkish occupation (1541-1686), multiplemosques and baths were built in the city. These weregreat examples of Ottoman architecture, which was in-uenced by Iranian, and to a larger extent, Byzantine ar-chitecture as well as Islamic traditions. Budapest is in factone of the few places in the world with functioning orig-inal Turkish bathhouses dating back to the 16th century,like Rudas Baths or Kirly Baths. Another little knownfact is that Budapest is home to the northernmost holyplace of Islam, the Tomb of Gl Baba, tomb of a Turkishdervish. After 1686, the Baroque architecture designatedthe dominant style of art in catholic countries from the17th century to the 18th century.

University Church (Egyetemi templom), an excellent example ofBaroque architecture in Budapest

There are many Baroque-style buildings in Budapest andone of the nest examples of original Baroque-style archi-tecture is the Church of St. Anna in Batthyhny square.An interesting part of Budapest is the less touristy buda,the main square of which also has some beautiful his-toric buildings with original Baroque faades. The Cas-tle District is another place to visit where the best-knownlandmark Buda Royal Palace and many other buildingswere built in the Baroque style.The Classical architecture and Neoclassical architectureare the next in the timeline. Budapest had not one buttwo architects that were masters of the Classicist style.Mihly Pollack (1773-1855) and Jzsef Hild (1789-1867), built many beautiful Classicist-style buildings inthe city. Some of the best examples are the Hungarian

The most famous Budapest bridge, the Chain Bridge, the icon ofthe citys 19th century development, built in 1849.

NationalMuseum, the Lutheran Church of Budavr (bothdesigned by Pollack) and the seat of the Hungarian pres-ident, the Sndor Palace. The most iconic Classicist-style attraction in Budapest, themost widely knownChainBridge. A bit of maverick in architectural styles the Ro-manticism. Budapests two most beautiful Romantic ar-chitecture buildings are the Great Synagogue in DohnyStreet and the Vigad Concert Hall on the Danube Prom-enade, both designed by architect Frigyes Feszl (1821-1884). Another noteworthy structure is the BudapestWestern Railway Station, which was designed by Augustde Serres and built by the Eiel Company of Paris in1877.Art Nouveau came into fashion in Budapest by the ex-hibitions which were held in and around 1896 and or-ganised in connection with the Hungarian Millenniumcelebrations.[93] Art Nouveau in Hungary (Szecesszi inHungarian) is a blend of several architectural styles, witha focus on Hungarys specialities. One of the leading ArtNouveau architects, dn Lechner (18451914), was in-spired by Indian and Syrian architecture as well as tra-ditional Hungarian decorative designs. One of his mostbeautiful buildings in Budapest is the Museum of Ap-plied Arts. Another examples for Art Nouveau in Bu-dapest is the GreshamPalace in front of the Chain Bridge,the Hotel Gellrt, the Franz Liszt Academy of Music orBudapest Zoo and Botanical Garden.[86]

In the 21st century, Budapest faces new challenges in itsarchitecture. The pressure towards the high-rise build-ings is unequivocal among todays world cities, but pre-serving Budapests unique cityscape and its very diversearchitecture, along with green areas, is force Budapestto balance between them. The Contemporary architec-ture has wide margin in the city. Public spaces attractheavy investment by business and government also, sothat the city has gained entirely new (or renovated andredesigned) squares, parks and monuments, for exam-ple the city central Kossuth Lajos square, Dek Ferencsquare and Liberty Square. Budapests current urbanlandscape is one of the modern and contemporary ar-chitecture. Numerous landmarks are created in the lastdecade in Budapest, like the National Theatre, Palace of

9Icons of 21st-century Budapest, the modern architecture andhigh-end oces

Arts, Rkczi Bridge, Megyeri Bridge, Budapest AirportSky Court among others, and millions of square metersof new oce buildings and apartments. But there arestill large opportunities in real estate development in thecity.[94][95][96]

4.2 Districts

Main article: List of districts in Budapest

Most of todays Budapest is the result of a late-nineteenth-century renovation, but the wide boulevardslain then only bordered and bisected much older quar-ters of activity created by centuries of Budapests cityevolution. Budapests vast urban area is often describedusing a set of district names. These are either infor-mal designations, reect the names of villages that havebeen absorbed by sprawl, or are superseded administra-tive units of former boroughs.[98] Such names have re-mained in use through tradition, each referring to a localarea with its own distinctive character, but without o-cial boundaries.[99] Originally Budapest had 10 districtsafter coming into existence upon the unication of thethree cities in 1873. Since 1950, Greater Budapest hasbeen divided into 22 boroughs (and 23 since 1994). Atthat time there were changes both in the order of districtsand in their sizes. The city now consists of 23 districts, 6in Buda, 16 in Pest and 1 on Csepel Island between them.The city centre itself in a broader sense comprises the

District V, VI, VII, VIII, IX[100] and XIII on the Pestside,[101] and the I, II, XI and XII on the Buda side ofthe city.District I is a small area in central Buda, including thehistoric Buda Castle. District II is in Buda again, in thenorthwest, and District III stretches along in the northern-most part of Buda. To reach District IV, one must crossthe Danube to nd it in Pest (the eastern side), also atnorth. With District V, another circle begins, it is locatedin the absolute centre of Pest. Districts VI, VII, VIII andIX are the neighbouring areas to the east, going south-wards, one after the other. District X is another, moreexternal circle also in Pest, while one must jump to theBuda side again to nd Districts XI and XII, going north-wards. No more districts remaining in Buda in this circle,we must turn our steps to Pest again to nd Districts XIII,XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX and XX (mostly ex-ternal city parts), almost regularly in a semicircle, goingsouthwards again. District XXI is the extension of theabove route over a branch of the Danube, the northerntip of a long island south from Budapest. District XXII isstill on the same route in southwest Buda, and nally Dis-trict XXIII is again in southernmost Pest, irregular onlybecause it was part of District XX until 1994.

5 DemographicsMain article: Demographics of Budapest

Budapest is the most populous city in Hungary andone of the largest cities in the European Union, with agrowing number of inhabitants, estimated at 1,742,000in 2014, whereby inward migration exceeds outwardmigration.[9] These trends are also seen throughout theBudapest metropolitan area, which is home to 3.3 millionpeople.[6][112] This amounts to about 34% of Hungary'spopulation. In 2014, the city had a population density

10 6 ECONOMY

of 3,314 people per square kilometre (8,580/sq mi), ren-dering it the most densely populated of all municipali-ties in Hungary. The population density of District VII(Elisabethtown) is 30,989/km (80,260/sq mi), which isthe highest population density gure in Hungary and oneof the highest in the world (for comparison the density inManhattan is 25,846/km[113]).Budapest is the fourth most dynamically growing cityby population in Europe,[114] and the Euromonitor pre-dicts a population increase of almost 10% between 2005and 2030.[115] The European Observation Network forTerritorial Development and Cohesion says Budapestspopulation will increase by 10% to 30% only due to mi-gration by 2050.[116] A constant inow of migrants inrecent years has fuelled population growth in Budapest.Productivity gains and the relatively large economicallyactive share of the population explain why household in-comes have increased in Budapest to a greater extent thanin other parts of Hungary. Higher incomes in Budapestare reected in the lower share of expenditure the citysinhabitants allocate to necessity spending such as foodand non-alcoholic drinks.[6]

At the 2011 census, there were 1,729,040 people with906,782 households living in Budapest.[117] Some 1.6million persons from the metropolitan area may be withinBudapests boundaries during work hours, and duringspecial events. This uctuation of people is caused byhundreds of thousands of suburban residents who travelto the city for work, education, health care, and spe-cial events. By ethnicity there were 1,397,851 (80.8%)Hungarians, 19,530 (1.1%) Romani, 18,278 (1.0%)Germans, 6,189 (0.4%) Romanians, 4,692 (0.3%)Chinese and 2,581 (0.1%) Slovaks. 301,943 people(17.5%) did not declare their ethnicity. In Hungary peo-ple can declare more than one ethnicity, so the sum ofethnicities is higher than the total population.[108][118] Thecity is home to one of the largest Jewish community inEurope.[119]

Sziget Festival Budapest. One of the largest music festivals inEurope provides a multicultural, diverse meeting point for localsand foreigners every year.

According to the same census, 1,600,585 people (92.6%)were born in Hungary, 126,036 people (7.3%) outside

Hungary while the birthplace of 2,419 people (0.1%)was unknown.[108] Although only 1.7% of the popula-tion of Hungary in 2009 were foreigners, 43% of themlived in Budapest, making them 4.4% of the citys pop-ulation (up from 2% in 2001).[109] Nearly two-thirds offoreigners living in Hungary were under 40 years old.The primary motivation for this age group living in Hun-gary was employment.[109] According to the 2011 census,1,712,153 people (99.0%) speak Hungarian, of whom1,692,815 people (97.9%) speak it as a rst language,while 19,338 people (1.1%) speak it as a second lan-guage. Other spoken (foreign) languages were: English(536,855 speakers, 31.0%), German (266,249 speakers,15.4%), French (56,208 speakers, 3.3%) and Russian(54,613 speakers, 3.2%).[108]

According to the 2011 census, there were 501,117(29.0%) Roman Catholics, 146,756 (8.5%) Calvinists,30,293 (1.8%) Lutherans, 16,192 (0.9%) GreekCatholics, 7,925 (0.5%) Jews and 3,710 (0.2%)Orthodox in Budapest. 395,964 people (22.9%) wereirreligious while 585,475 people (33.9%) did not declaretheir religion.[108] A Hungarian Central Statistical Ocereport showed that also, the proportion of Romaniin Budapest increased from 2% in 1990 to 4.6% in2009.[14][109]

6 EconomyFurther information: List of companies based in Bu-dapest and Economy of HungaryBudapest is a signicant economic hub, classied as an

Danube Towers in Central Business District of Budapest. It hostsheadquarters and oces of OTP Bank and Erste Bank

Alpha- World city (known as major world city) in thestudy of Globalization and World Cities Research Net-work.[120] On the national level Budapest is denitelythe primate city of Hungary regarding the economy andbusiness, accounting for 39% of the national income.[121]Budapest had a gross metropolitan product of almost$100 billion in 2012,[122] making it one of the largest re-gional economy in the European Union. According to

6.1 Finance and corporate location 11

the Eurostat GDP per capita in purchasing power parityis 147% of the EU average in Budapest, which means37.632 ($52.770) per capita.[7] Budapest is also amongthe Top 100 GDP performing cities in the world, mea-sured by PricewaterhouseCoopers.[123]

WestEnd City Center is the largest mall in Central Europe

ING Bank Budapest headquarters and analyses centre

The city was named as the 52nd most important businesscentre in the world in the MasterCard Worldwide Cen-tres of Commerce Index, ahead of Beijing, Sao Paulo,Warsaw or Athens and ranking 3rd (out of 65 cities) onMastercard Emerging Markets Index.[34][124] The city is48th on the UBS The most expensive and richest citiesin the world list, standing before cities such as Prague,Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur or Buenos Aires.[125] In a globalcity competitiveness ranking by EIU, Budapest is standsbefore Moscow, Tel Aviv, Lisbon, Johannesburg among

others.[126] The city is a major centre for banking andnance, retailing, trade, transportation, tourism, real es-tate, new media as well as traditional media, advertising,legal services, accountancy, insurance, fashion and thearts in Hungary and regionally. Budapest is home not onlyto almost all national institutions and government agen-cies, but also to many domestic and international compa-nies, in 2014 there are 393.289 companies registered inthe city.[127] Most of these entities are headquartered inthe Budapests Central Business District, in the District5 and 13. The retail market of the city (and the coun-try) is also concentrated in the downtown, among othersthrough the two largest shopping centre in Central andEastern Europe, the WestEnd City Center (186,000sqmtotal) and the Arena Plaza (180,000sqm total).[128][129]

Budapest has notable innovation capabilities as a technol-ogy and start-up hub, many start-ups are headquarteredand begin its business in the city, for instance deserve tomention the most well-known Prezi, LogMeIn or Nav NGo. A good indicator of the citys potential for innova-tion and research also, is that the European Institute ofInnovation and Technology chose Budapest for its head-quarters, along with the UN, which Regional Represen-tation for Central Europe oce is in the city, responsi-ble for UN operations in seven countries.[130] Moreover,the global aspect of the citys research activity is shownthrough the establishment of the European Chinese Re-search Institute in the city.[131] Other important sectorsinclude also, as natural science research, informationtechnology and medical research, non-prot institutions,and universities. The leading business schools and uni-versities in Budapest, the Budapest Business School, theCEU Business School and Corvinus University of Bu-dapest oers a whole range of courses in economics,nance and management in English, French, German andHungarian.[132] The unemployment rate is far the low-est in Budapest within Hungary, it was 2.7%, besides themany thousands of employed foreign citizens.[133]

Budapest is among the 25th most visited places in theworld, the city welcoming more than 4.3 million inter-national visitors each year,[134] therefore the traditionaland the congress tourism industry also deserve a mention,it contributes greatly to the citys economy, the capitalbeing home to many convention centre and thousands ofrestaurants, bars, coee houses and party places, besidesthe full assortment of hotels. In restaurant oerings canbe found the highest quality Michelin-starred restaurants,like Onyx, Costes or Borkonyha. The city ranked as themost liveable city in Central and Eastern Europe on EIU'squality of life index in 2010.[135]

6.1 Finance and corporate locationThe Budapest Stock Exchange, key institution of the pub-licly oered securities in Hungary and Central Europe issituated on Andrssy Avenue. Budapest is also a mainbase for CEE Stock Exchange Group through Budapest

12 7 POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Gedeon Richter research and development seat in Budapest

Stock Exchange which is one of the most important mar-ket of the group. Large Hungarian multinational corpo-rations headquartered in Budapest are listed on BSE, e.g.the Fortune Global 500 rmMOL Group, the OTP BankGroup, FHB Bank, Gedeon Richter, Magyar Telekom,CIG Pannonia, Danubius Hotels Group and more.[136]

Nowadays nearly all branches of industry can be foundin Budapest, there is no particularly special industryin the citys economy, but the nancial centre role ofthe city is strong, nearly 40 major banks are presentedin the city,[137] also those like Bank of China, KDBBank and Hanwha Bank, which is unique in the re-gion. Also support the nancial industry of Budapest,the rms of international banks and nancial serviceproviders, such as Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, GE Cap-ital, Deutsche Bank, Sberbank, ING Group, Allianz,KBC Group, UniCredit and MSCI among others. An-other particularly strong industry in the capital city isbiotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, these arealso traditionally strong in Budapest, through domes-tic companies, as Egis, Gedeon Richter, Chinoin andthrough international biotechnology corporations, likePzer, Teva, Novartis, Sano, who are also has R&Dand production division here. Further high-tech indus-tries, such as software development, engineering notableas well, the Nokia, Ericcson, Bosch, Microsoft, IBM em-ploys thousands of engineers in research and develop-ment in the city. Game design also highly representedthrough headquarters of Digital Reality, Black Holeand studio of Crytek or Gameloft. Beyond the above,there are regional headquarters of global rms, such asAlcoa, General Motors, GE, ExxonMobil, British Petrol,Hudson Legal, British Telecom, Flextronics, PanasonicCorp, Huawei, Knorr-Bremse, Liberty Global, Tata Con-sultancy, Aegon, WizzAir, TriGrnit, MVM Group,Graphisoft, there is a base for Nissan CEE, Volvo, Saab,Ford, including but not limited to.[138]

United Nations conference in the assembly hall of House of Mag-nates

The original and the future seat of The Curia, the highest courtin Hungary

President George W. Bush meets with Hungarian PresidentLszl Slyom at Sndor Palace in Budapest

7 Politics and governmentMain article: Politics of Hungary

As the capital of Hungary, Budapest is the seat of thecountrys national government. For the executive, thetwo chief ocers each have their own ocial resi-dences, which also serve as their oces. The Presidentof Hungary resides at the Sndor Palace in the Dis-trict I (Buda Castle District),[139] while the oce of theHungarian Prime Minister is in the Hungarian Parlia-ment. Government ministries are all located in variousparts of the city, most of them are in the District V,

7.1 City governance 13

Leopoldtown. The National Assembly is seats in theHungarian Parliament, which also located in the DistrictV.[140] The President of the National Assembly, the third-highest public ocial in Hungary, is also seats in thelargest building in the country, in the Hungarian Parlia-ment.Hungarys highest courts are located in Budapest. TheCuria (supreme court of Hungary), the highest court inthe judicial order, which reviews criminal and civil cases,is located in the District V, Leopoldtown. Under the au-thority of its President it has three departments: criminal,civil and administrative-labour law departments. Eachdepartment has various chambers. The Curia guaran-tees the uniform application of law. The decisions ofthe Curia on uniform jurisdiction are binding for othercourts.[141] In order, the second most important judicialauthority, the National Judicial Council is also seats inthe District V, with the power of controlling the nan-cial management of the judicial administration and thatof the courts and giving an opinion on the practice ofthe president of the National Oce for the Judiciaryand the Curia deciding about the applications of judgesand court leaders, among others.[142] The ConstitutionalCourt of Hungary is one of the highest level indepen-dent actor of the politics in the country. The Constitu-tional Court serves as the main body for the protectionof the Constitution, its tasks being the review of the con-stitutionality of statutes. The Constitutional Court per-forms its tasks independently. With its own budget and itsjudges being elected by Parliament it does not constitutea part of the ordinary judicial system. The constitutionalcourt passes on the constitutionality of laws, and there isno right of appeal on these decisions.[143]

Budapest hosts the main and regional headquartersof many international organisations as well, includ-ing United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na-tions, European Institute of Innovation and Technol-ogy, European Police Academy, International Centre forDemocratic Transition, Institute of International Edu-cation, International Labour Organization, InternationalOrganization for Migration, International Red Cross,Regional Environmental Center for Central and EasternEurope, Danube Commission and even others.[144] Thecity is also home to more than 100 embassies and repre-sentative bodies as an international political actor.[145]

Environmental issues has a high priority among Bu-dapests politics. In this context, such institutions as theRegional Environmental Center for Central and East-ern Europe, located in Budapest, are very importantassets.[146] To decrease the usage of cars individually andthe greenhouse gas emissions, the city determined in thepast the improvement of the public transport, and nowa-days the city has one of the highest mass transit usagein Europe. Budapest has one of the best public trans-port systems in Europe with an ecient network of buses,trolleys, trams and subway. Budapest has a Europe above-

average proportion of people commuting on public trans-port or walking and cycling.[147] Riding on bike paths,built in the last few years, is one of the best ways tosee Budapest there are currently about 180 kilome-tres of bicycle paths in the city, tting into the EuroVelosystem.[148]

The crime in Budapest investigated by dierent bodies.United Nations Oce on Drugs and Crime notes in their2011 Global Study on Homicide that, according to crim-inal justice sources, the homicide rate in Hungary, calcu-lated based on UN population estimates, was 1.4 in 2009,compared to Canadas rate of 1.8 that same year.[149]The homicide rate in Budapest is below the EU capitalcities average according to WHO also.[150] However, theorganised crime is associated with the city, the Instituteof Defence in a UN study named Budapest as the globalepicentres of illegal pornography, money laundering andcontraband tobacco, and also the negotiation center forinternational crime group leaders.[151]

7.1 City governance

Istvn Tarls, the re-elected Mayor on the 2014 local elections.

Budapest has been a metropolitan municipality with amayor-council form of government since its consolida-tion in 1873, but Budapest also holds a special status asa county-level government, and also special within that,as holds a capital-city territory status.[152] In Budapest,the central government is responsible for the urban plan-ning, statutory planning, public transport, housing, wastemanagement, municipal taxes, correctional institutions,libraries, public safety, recreational facilities, among oth-ers. The Mayor is responsible for all city services, policeand re protection, enforcement of all city and state lawswithin the city, and administration of public property andmost public agencies. Besides, each of Budapest' twenty-three districts has its own town hall and a directly electedcouncil and the directly elected mayor of district.Istvn Tarls, the current Mayor was re-elected mayorfor another 5-year term on the 2014 local elections, hereceived 49.06% of the votes.[153] He is an independent(but supported by Fidesz) who assumed the oce rst on3 October 2010.[154] The composition of the 33 seats in

14 8 MAIN SIGHTS AND TOURISM

the Budapest General Assembly after the 2014 electionsis in the table. The mayor and members of General As-sembly are elected to ve-year terms.The Budapest General Assembly is a unicameral bodyconsisting of 33 members, which consist of the 23 may-ors of the districts, 9 from the electoral lists of politicalparties, plus Mayor of Budapest (the Mayor is elected di-rectly). Each term for the mayor and assembly memberslasts ve years.[155] Submitting the budget of Budapest isthe responsibility of the Mayor and the deputy-mayor incharge of nance. The latest, 2014 budget was approvedwith 18 supporting votes from ruling Fidesz and 14 votesagainst by the opposition lawmakers.[156]

8 Main sights and tourismSee also: List of sights and historic places in Budapestand Category:Visitor attractions in BudapestSee also: Sights of Budapest by districtsThe neo-Gothic Parliament, the biggest building in

Matthias Church and the Fishermans Bastion terrace over thecity

Hungary with its 268 metres (879 ft) length, containingamongst other things the Hungarian Crown Jewels. SaintStephens Basilica, where the Holy Right Hand of thefounder of Hungary, King Saint Stephen is on display.The Hungarian cuisine and caf culture: for example,Gerbeaud Caf, and the Szzves, Biarritz, Fortuna, Al-abrdos, Arany Szarvas, Krptia and the world famousMtys Pince Restaurants. There are Roman remainsat the Aquincum Museum, and historic furniture at theNagyttny Castle Museum, just 2 out of 223 museumsin Budapest. Another historical museum is the House ofTerror, hosted in the building that was the venue of theNazi Headquarters. The Castle Hill, the River Danubeembankments and the whole of Andrssy t have beenocially recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.Castle Hill and the Castle District; there are threechurches here, six museums, and a host of interestingbuildings, streets and squares. The former Royal Palace isone of the symbols of Hungary and has been the sceneof battles and wars ever since the 13th century. Nowa-days it houses two impressive museums and the National

NewYork Palace, caf in the ground oor, named New York Cafand 107 room hotel above

Szchenyi Library. The nearby Sndor Palace containsthe oces and ocial residence of the President ofHungary. The seven-hundred-year-old Matthias Churchis one of the jewels of Budapest, it is in neo-Gothicstyle, decorated with coloured shingles and elegant pin-nacles. Next to it is an equestrian statue of the rstking of Hungary, King Saint Stephen, and behind thatis the Fishermans Bastion, built in 1905 by the architectFrigyes Schulek, the Fishermens Bastions owes its nameto the namesake corporation that during the Middle Ageswas responsible of the defence of this part of ramparts,fromwhere opens out a panoramic view of the whole city.Statues of the Turul, the mythical guardian bird of Hun-gary, can be found in both the Castle District and theTwelfth District.In Pest, arguably the most important sight is Andrssy t.This Avenue is an elegant 2.5 km (2 mi) long tree-linedstreet that covers the distance from Dek Ferenc tr tothe Heroes Square. On this Avenue overlook many im-portant sites. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Asfar as Kodly krnd and Oktogon both sides are linedwith large shops and ats built close together. Betweenthere and Heroes Square the houses are detached andaltogether grander. Under the whole runs continentalEurope's oldest Underground railway, most of whose sta-tions retain their original appearance. Heroes Square isdominated by the Millenary Monument, with the Tombof the Unknown Soldier in front. To the sides are theMuseum of Fine Arts and the Kunsthalle Budapest, andbehind City Park opens out, with Vajdahunyad Castle.

8.1 Parks and gardening 15

Dohny Street Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Europe

One of the jewels of Andrssy t is the Hungarian StateOpera House. Statue Park, a theme park with strikingstatues of the Communist era, is located just outside themain city and is accessible by public transport.The Dohny Street Synagogue is the largest synagogue inEurope, and the second largest active synagogue in theworld.[157] The synagogue is located in the Jewish districttaking up several blocks in central Budapest bordered byKirly utca, Wesselnyi utca, Grand Boulevard and Ba-jcsy Zsilinszky road. It was built in moorish revival stylein 1859 and has a capacity of 3000 people. Adjacentto it is a sculpture reproducing a weeping willow treein steel to commemorate the Hungarian victims of theHolocaust. The city is also home to the largest medicinalbath in Europe (Szchenyi Medicinal Bath) and the thirdlargest Parliament building in the world, once the largestin the world. Other attractions are the bridges of the cap-ital. Seven bridges provide crossings over the Danube,and from north to south are: the rpd Bridge (builtin 1950 at the north of Margaret Island); the MargaretBridge (built in 1901, destroyed during the war by an ex-plosion and then rebuilt in 1948); the Chain Bridge (builtin 1849, destroyed during the II World War and the re-built in 1949); the Elisabeth Bridge (completed in 1903and dedicated to the murdered Queen Elisabeth, it wasdestroyed by the Germans during the war and rebuilt in1964); the Liberty Bridge (opened in 1896 and rebuiltin 1989 in Art Nouveau style); the Pet Bridge (com-pleted in 1937, destroyed during the war and rebuilt in1952); the Rkczi Bridge (completed in 1995). Mostremarkable for their beauty are the Margaret bridge, the

Chain bridge and the Liberty bridge. The worlds largestpanorama photograph was created in (and of) Budapestin 2010.[158]

Tourists visiting Budapest can receive free maps andinformation from the nonprot Budapest Festival andTourism Center at its info-points.[159] The info centersalso oer the Budapest Card which allows free publictransit and discounts for several museums, restaurantsand other places of interest. Cards are available for 24,48 or 72-hour durations.[160] The city is also well knownfor its ruin bars both day and night.[161]

City Park Lake, largest in the city

Park on Margaret Island

8.1 Parks and gardeningSee also: Category:Parks in Budapest

Budapest has many municipal parks and most have play-grounds for children and seasonal activities like skatingin the winter and boating in the summer. Access fromthe city center is quick and easy with the MillenniumUnderground. Budapest has a complex park system,with various lands operated by the Budapest City Gar-dening Ltd.[162] The wealth of greenspace aorded byBudapests parks is further augmented, a network ofopen spaces containing forest, streams, and lakes that are

16 8 MAIN SIGHTS AND TOURISM

set aside as natural areas which lie along not for frominner city, among others the Budapest Zoo and BotanicalGarden (established in 1866) in the City Park.[163] Themost notably and popular parks in Budapest are the CityPark which were established in 1751 (302 acres) along-side with Andrassy Avenue,[164] the Margaret Island inthe Danube (238 acres),[165] the Peoples Park and theKopaszi Dam.[166][167]

The BudaHills also oer a variety of adventurous outdooractivities, along with some spectacular views. A popularplace frequented by locals is Normafa, oering activitiesfor all seasons. With a modest ski run, it is also a winterfavorite for skiers and snow boarders if there is enoughsnowfall.

8.2 Islands

Aerial panorama with the Margaret Island

Seven islands can be found on the Danube: Shipyard Is-land, Margaret Island, Csepel Island, Palotai-sziget (nowa peninsula), Npsziget, Hros-sziget, and Molnr-sziget.Notable islands include:

Margaret Island is a 2.5 km (1.6 mi) long island and0.965 square kilometres (238 acres) in area. Theisland mostly consists of a park and is a popularrecreational area for tourists and locals alike. Theisland lies between bridges Margaret Bridge (south)and rpd Bridge (north). Dance clubs, swimmingpools, an aqua park, athletic and tness centres, bi-cycle and running tracks can be found around theIsland. During the day the island is occupied by peo-ple doing sports, or just resting. In the summer (gen-erally on the weekends) mostly young people go tothe island at night to party on its terraces, or to recre-ate with a bottle of alcohol on a bench or on the grass(this form of entertainment is sometimes referred toas bench-partying).

Csepel Island (Hungarian pronunciation: [tplsit])is the largest island of the River Danube in Hungary.It is 48 km (30 mi) long; its width is 6 to 8 km (4to 5 mi) and its area comprises 257 km2 (99 sq mi),whereas only the northern tip is inside the city limits.

Hajgyri-sziget ([hjoari sit], or budai-sziget) is a man-made island located in the thirddistrict. This island hosts many activities such as:wake-boarding, jet-skiing during the day, and danceclubs during the night. This is the island where thefamous Sziget Festival takes place, hosting hundredsof performances per year and now around 400,000visitors in its last edition. Many building projectsare taking place to make this island into one of thebiggest entertainment centres of Europe. The planis to build apartment buildings, hotels, casinos and amarina.

Luppa-sziget is the smallest island of Budapest andis located in the northern region of the city.

Rock of nsg can be found in the river Danube un-der the Gellrt mountain. It can be seen only duringa drought period when the river level is very low.

8.3 Spas

Szchenyi Thermal Bath in City Park

One of the reasons the Romans rst colonised the areaimmediately to the west of the River Danube and estab-lished their regional capital at Aquincum (now part ofbuda, in northern Budapest) is so that they could utiliseand enjoy the thermal springs. There are still ruins vis-ible today of the enormous baths that were built duringthat period. The new baths that were constructed duringthe Turkish period (15411686) served both bathing andmedicinal purposes, and some of these are still in use tothis day. Budapest gained its reputation as a city of spasin the 1920s, following the rst realisation of the eco-nomic potential of the thermal waters in drawing in visi-tors. Indeed, in 1934 Budapest was ocially ranked as aCity of Spas. Today, the baths are mostly frequented bythe older generation, as, with the exception of the MagicBath and Cinetrip water discos, young people tend toprefer the lidos which are open in the summer. Construc-tion of the Kirly Baths started in 1565, and most of thepresent-day building dates from the Turkish period, in-cluding most notably the ne cupola-topped pool. TheRudas Baths are centrally placed in the narrow strip of

9.1 Airport 17

land betweenGellrt Hill and the River Danube and alsoan outstanding example of architecture dating from theTurkish period. The central feature is an octagonal poolover which light shines from a 10 metres (33 ft) diametercupola, supported by eight pillars. The Gellrt Baths andHotel were built in 1918, although there had once beenTurkish baths on the site, and in the Middle Ages a hos-pital. In 1927, the Baths were extended to include thewave pool, and the eervescent bath was added in 1934.The well-preserved Art Nouveau interior includes colour-ful mosaics, marble columns, stained glass windows andstatues. The Lukcs Baths are also in Buda and are alsoTurkish in origin, although they were only revived at theend of the 19th century. This was also when the spa andtreatment centre were founded. There is still somethingof an atmosphere of n-de-sicle about the place, and allaround the inner courtyard there are marble tablets recall-ing the thanks of patrons who were cured there. Since the1950s it has been regarded as a centre for intellectuals andartists.The Szchenyi Baths are one of the largest bathing com-plexes in all Europe, and the only old medicinal baths tobe found in the Pest side of the city. The indoormedicinalbaths date from 1913 and the outdoor pools from 1927.There is an atmosphere of grandeur about the whole placewith the bright, largest pools resembling aspects associ-ated with Roman baths, the smaller bath tubs remindingone of the bathing culture of the Greeks, and the saunasand diving pools borrowed from traditions emanating innorthern Europe. The three outdoor pools (one of whichis a fun pool) are open all year, including winter. Indoorsthere are over ten separate pools, and a whole host ofmedical treatments is also available. The Szcheny Bathsare built in modern Renaissance style.

9 Infrastructure and transporta-tion

Budapest International Airport arrivals and departures loungebetween terminal 2A and 2B, named SkyCourt

Terminal 2B international check-in area

9.1 Airport

Main article: Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport

Budapest is served by Budapest Ferenc Liszt Interna-tional Airport(BUD) (named after Franz Liszt, the no-table Hungarian composer), one of the busiest airportin Central and Eastern Europe, located 16 kilometres(9.9 mi) east-southeast of the centre of Budapest, in theDistrict XVIII. The airport oers international connec-tions among all major European cities, and also to NorthAmerica, Africa and the Middle East. As Hungary's bus-iest airport, handles nearly all of the countrys air passen-ger trac. Budapest Liszt Ferenc handled around 250scheduled ights daily in 2013, and an ever rising num-ber of charters. London, Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich,Paris, and Amsterdam are the busiest international con-nections respectively, while Toronto, Montreal, Dubai,Doha and Alicante are the most unique in the region.[168]Today the airport serves as a base for Ryanair, Wizz Air,Budapest Aircraft Service, CityLine Hungary, FarnairHungary and Travel Service Hungary among others. Theairport accessible via public transportation from the citycentre by the Metro line 3 and then the airport bus No.200E.[169]

As part of a strategic development plan, 561 millionhave spent to expanding and modernising the airport in-frastructure until December 2012. Most of these im-provements are already completed,[170] the postponedones are the new cargo area and new piers for terminal 2Aand 2B, but these development are on standby also, andwill start immediately, when the airport trac will reachthe appropriate level. SkyCourt, the newest, state-of-the-art building between the 2A and 2B terminals with 5 lev-els. Passenger safety checks were moved here along withnew baggage classiers and the new Malv and SkyTeambusiness lounges, as well as the rst MasterCard loungein Europe.[171]

18 9 INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORTATION

9.2 Public transportation

Budapest metro and rapid transit network within the city and tosuburbs

Green Line 4, a driverless metro line with real-time PIDS systemat Klvin square, a transfer station to Blue Line 3

Alstom Metropolis on the Red Line 2 at Keleti Railway Station,an intermodal transfer hub to Green Line 4 and railways

The Centre for Budapest Transport (BKK), thetransportation authority of Budapest,[172] operates

one of the largest public transportation systems inEurope, which covers the city of Budapest and 80surrounding suburbs. Budapests public transport systemconsists of four metro lines, with Line 1 (Yellow) constructed 1896, being the second oldest in the world; 5suburban railway lines; 33 city tram lines; 15 trolleybuslines; 264 bus lines, with 40 routes providing nightbus services; 4 city boat services plus the BuBi, thesmart bicycle sharing network with bikes monitored bycomputer and GPS. On an average weekday, BKK linestransports 3.9 million riders. In 2011, it handled a totalof 1.4 billion passengers.[173] In 2014, the 65% of thepassenger trac in Budapest was by public transportand 35% by car. The aim is 80%20% by 2030 inaccordance with the strategy of BKK.[174]

The development of complex Intelligent transportationsystem in the city is rapidly advancing, the application ofsmart trac lights is widespread, they are GPS and com-puter controlled and give priority to the GPS connectedpublic transport vehicles automatically, as well as the traf-c is measured and analyzed on the roads and car driversinformed about the expected travel time and trac by in-telligent displays (EasyWay project).[175] Public transportusers are immediately notied of any changes in publictransport online, on smartphones and on PIDS displays,as well car drivers can keep track of changes in trac androad management in real-time online and on smartphonesthrough the BKK Info.[176][177] As well all vehicles can befollowed online and on smartphones in real-time through-out the city with the Futr PIDS system,[178] while thecontinuous introducing of integrated e-ticket system willhelp the measurement of passenger numbers on each lineand the intelligent control of service frequency.The development of Futr, the citywide real-timepassenger information system and real-time route plan-ner is nished already and now all of the public trans-port vehicle is connected via satellite system. The real-time information of trams, buses and trolleybuses areavailable for both the operators in the control room andfor all the passengers in all stops on smartphone andon city street displays.[179] The implementation of latestgeneration automated fare collection and e-ticket systemwith NFC compatibility and reusable contactless smartcards for making electronic payments in online and of-ine systems in Budapest is started in 2014, the projectis implemented and operated by the operator of HongKong Octopus card jointly with one of the leading Eu-ropean companies of e-ticket and automated fare collec-tion, Scheidt & Bachmann.[180] The deployment of 300new digital contactless ticket vending machine will be n-ished by the end of 2014 in harmonization with the e-ticket system.[181]

The tram lines no. 4 and 6 are the busiest city tramlines in the world,[182] with one of the worlds longesttrams (54-metre long Siemens Combino) running at 2-3minute intervals at peak time and 45 minutes o-peak.Day services are usually from 4am until 23pm-0.30am.

9.3 Roads and railways 19

Solaris electric bus heading to downtown. Budapest has an ex-tensive, sustainable 15-line trolleybus network

New Siemens Desiro, a commuter city rail at Nyugati Station withcity center in the background

The night service has a reputation for being excellent.[147]Hungarian State Railways operates an extensive networkof commuter rail services, their importance in the sub-urban commuter passenger trac is signicant, but intravel within the city is limited. The organiser of publictransport in Budapest is the municipal corporation Centrefor Budapest Transport (Budapesti Kzlekedsi Kzpont- BKK), that is responsible for planning and organisingnetwork and services, planning and developing tari con-cepts, attending to public service procurer duties, man-aging public service contracts, operating controlling andmonitoring systems, setting and monitoring service levelagreements related to public transport, attending to cus-tomer service duties, selling and monitoring tickets andpasses, attending to integrated passenger information du-ties, unied Budapest-centric trac control within pub-lic transport, attending to duties related to river naviga-tion, plus the management of Budapest roads, operatingtaxi stations, unied control of bicycle trac develop-ment in the capital, preparing parking strategy and devel-oping an operational concept, preparation of road tracmanagement, developing an optimal trac managementsystem, organising and co-ordinating road reconstructionand even more, in short, everything which is related totransport in the city.[183]

Megyeri Bridge on M0 highway ring road around Budapest

9.3 Roads and railways

Main articles: Hungarian State Railways and Motorwaysin Hungary

Budapest is the most important Hungarian road terminus,all of themajor highways and railways ends within the citylimits. The road system in the city is designed in a similarmanner to that of Paris, with several ring roads, and av-enues radiating out from the center. Ring roadM0 aroundBudapest is nearly completed, with only one section miss-ing on the west side due to local disputes. Currently thebeltway is 80 kilometres (50 miles) in length, and oncenished it will be 107 kilometres (66 mi) of highway inlength. The citys importance in terms of trac is verycentral, because all major European roads and Europeanrailway lines lead to Budapest.[78] The Danube was and isstill today an important water-way and this region in thecentre of the Carpathian Basin lies at the cross-roads oftrade routes.[79] Hungarian main line railways are oper-ated by Hungarian State Railways. There are three mainrailway station in Budapest, the Budapest Eastern rail-way station, the Budapest Western railway station andBudapest Southern railway station, operating both do-mestic and international rail services. Budapest is one ofthe main stops of the Orient Express on its Central andEastern European route.[184] There is also a suburban railservice in and around Budapest, operated under the nameHV.

20 10 CULTURE AND CONTEMPORARY LIFE

9.4 Ports and shipping

The river Danube ows through Budapest on its way fromGermany to the Black Sea. The river is easily navigableand so Budapest historically has a major commercial portat Csepel District and at New Pest District also. The Pestside is also a famous port place with international ship-ping ports for cargo[185] and for passenger ships.[186] Inthe summer months, a scheduled hydrofoil service oper-ates on the Danube connecting the city to Vienna.BKK (through the operator BKV) also provides publictransport with boat service within the borders of the city.Four routes, marked D11-14, connect the 2 banks withMargaret Island and Hajgyri-island, from Rmai frd(Buda side, North to budai island) or rpd Bridge(Pest side) to Rkczi Bridge, with a total of 15 stops.In addition, several companies provides sightseeing boattrips and also an amphibious vehicle (bus and boat) oper-ates constantly.Water quality in Budapest harbours improved dramati-cally in the recent years, treatment facilities processed100% of generated sewage in 2010. Budapesters regu-larly kayak, canoe, jet-ski and sail on the Danube, whichhas continuously become a major recreational site for thecity.Special vehicles there are in Budapest besidemetros, likesuburban rails, trams and boats, there are a couple of lessusual vehicles in Budapest, like the trolleybus on severallines in Pest, the Castle Hill Funicular between the ChainBridge and Buda Castle, the cyclecar for rent in MargaretIsland, the chairlift, the Budapest Cog-wheel Railway andchildrens railway. The latter three vehicles runs amongBuda hills.

10 Culture and contemporary life

Main pages: Category:Culture in Budapest and Cultureof HungaryThe culture of Budapest is reected by Budapests size

Hungarian Academy of Sciences seat in Budapest, founded in1825 by Count Istvn Szchenyi

and variety. Most Hungarian cultural movements rstemerged in the city. Budapest is an important center formusic, lm, theatre, dance and visual art. Artists havebeen drawn into the city by opportunity, as the city gov-ernment funds the arts with adequate nancial resources.

10.1 Museums and galleriesFurther information: Category:Museums in BudapestBudapest is packed with museums and galleries, and

Museum of Fine Arts Budapest in the Heroes Square

there are plenty of temporary exhibitions in the most un-likely of settings, particularly in summer. The city glo-ries in 223 museums and galleries, which presents sev-eral memories, not only the Hungarian historical, art andscience ones, but also the memories of universal and Eu-ropean culture and science. Here are the greatest exam-ples among them: the Hungarian National Museum, theHungarian National Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts(where can see the pictures of Hungarian painters, likeVictor Vasarely, Mihly Munkcsy and a great collec-tion about Italian art, Dutch art, Spanish art and Britishart from before the 19th century and French art, Britishart, German art, Austrian art after the 19th century), theHouse of Terror, the Budapest Historical Museum, theAquincumMuseum, the Memento Park, Museum of Ap-plied Arts and the contemporary arts exhibition Palaceof Arts Budapest.[187] In Budapest there are currently837 dierent monuments, which represent the most ofthe European artistic style. The classical and uniqueHungarian Art Nouveau buildings are prominent.A lot of libraries have unique collections in Budapest,such as the National Szchenyi Library, which keeps his-

10.2 Opera and theatres 21

The Museum of Applied Arts, an Art Nouveau building designedby dn Lechner

Vigad Concert Hall, built in 1859

Hungarian State Opera House

torical relics from the age before the printing of books.TheMetropolitan Szab Ervin Library plays an importantrole in the general education of the capitals population.Other libraries: The Library of the Hungarian Academyof Sciences, Etvs University Library, the Parliamen-tary Library and the National Library of Foreign Litera-

ture.

10.2 Opera and theatres

In Budapest there are forty theatres, seven concert hallsand an opera house.[188] Outdoor festivals, concerts andlectures enrich the cultural oer of summer, which areoften held in historical buildings. The largest theatrefacilities are the Budapest Operetta and Musical The-atre, the Jzsef Attila Theatre, the Katona Jzsef Theatre,the Madch Theatre, the Hungarian State Opera House,the National Theatre, the Vigad Concert Hall, RadntiMikls Theatre and the Comedy Theatre. The BudapestOpera Ball is an annual Hungarian society event takingplace in the building of the Budapest Opera (Operahz)on the last Saturday of the carnival season, usually lateFebruary.[189]

10.3 Performing arts and festivals

Further information: Music of Budapest

Several annual festivals take place in Budapest, such asSziget Festival, one of the largest outdoor music festi-val in Europe, the Budapest Spring Festival presents onconcerts at several venues across the city. The BudapestAutumn Festival brings free music, dance, art, and othercultural events to the streets of the city. Budapest WineFestival and Budapest Plinka Festival occurs each Mayand gastronomy festivals focus on culinary pleasures.Budapest Pride (or Budapest Pride Film andCultural Fes-tival) occurs annually across the city, and usually involvesa parade on the Andrssy Avenue. Other festivals includethe Budapest Fringe Festival, which brings more than 500artists in about 50 shows to produce a wide range of in-teresting works in alternative theatre, dance, music andcomedy outside the mainstream. The LOW Festival wasa multidisciplinary contemporary cultural festival held inHungary in the cities Budapest and Pcs from Februarytill March. The name of the festival alludes to the LowCountries, the region encompassing the Netherlands andFlanders. Budapest Jewish Summer Festival, in late Au-gust, is also one of the largest in Europe.There are many symphony orchestras in Budapest withthe Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra being preeminentorchestras. It was founded in 1853 by Ferenc Erkeland still presents regular concerts in the Hungarian StateOpera House and National Theatre.The dance tradition of the Carpathian Basin is a uniquearea of the European dance culture, which is also a spe-cial transition between the Balkans and Western Europeregions. The city is home to several authentic Hungarianfolk dance ensembles which range from small ensemblesto professional troupes. Budapest is one of the few citiesin the world where a high school for folk dance learning

22 10 CULTURE AND CONTEMPORARY LIFE

Budapest Fashion Street along with the likewise famous VciStreet

exists.

TONI&GUY Fashion Week Budapest in Palazzo Dorottya, 2013

10.4 FashionBudapest is home to a fashion week twice a year, wherethe citys fashion designers and houses present their col-lections and provide ameeting place for the fashion indus-try representatives. Budapest Fashion Week additionallya place for designers from other countries may presenttheir collections in Budapest. Hungarian models, likeBarbara Palvin, EnikMihalik, DinaMszros, ViktriaVmosi usually appearing at these events along inter-national participants. Fashion brands like Zara, H&M,Mango, ESPRIT, Douglas AG, Lacoste, Nike and all re-tail fashion brand is common across the citys shoppingmalls and on the streets.Major luxury fashion brands such as Roberto Cav-alli, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Versace, Ferragamo,Moschino, Prada and Hugo Boss, can be found amongthe citys most prestigious shopping streets, the FashionStreet, Vci Street and Andrssy Avenue in Budapestsmain upscale fashion district, the Leopoldtown, DistrictV. Budapests newest fashion and design mall, the il Ba-cio di Stile, opened in 2013 and houses most major fash-ion houses and brands from around the world including

Bottega Veneta, Giorgio Armani, Saint Laurent, Lanvin,Valentino, Oscar de la Renta.[190]

Hungarian Television seat in 2009 at Liberty square in District V

10.5 Media

Further information: Category:Media in Budapest andList of lms shot in Budapest

Budapest is a prominent location for the Hungarian en-tertainment industry, with many lms, television series,books, and other media set there. Budapest is the largestcentre for lm and television production in Hungary. In2011, it employed more than 50,000 people and gen-erated 63.9% of revenues of the media industry in thecountry.[191] Budapest is the media centre of Hungary,and the location of the main headquarters of HungarianTelevision and other numerous local and national TV andradio stations, such as M1, M2, Duna TV, Duna World,RTL Klub, TV2 (Hungary), EuroNews, Comedy Cen-tral, MTV Hungary, VIVA Hungary, Viasat 3, Cool TV,Pro4 and politics and news channels such as, Hr TV,ATV, Echo TV, furthermore documentary channels suchas, Discovery Channel, Discovery Science, DiscoveryWorld, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild,Spektrum, BBCEntertainment and it is less than a quarterof the channels broadcast from Budapest, for the wholepicture see the Television in Hungary. In 2012, there

10.7 In ction 23

were 7.2 million internet users in Hungary (72% of thepopulation).[192] and there were 2.3 million subscriptionsfor mobile broadband,[193]

Foie gras pt with mustard seeds and green onions in duck (Hun-garian speciality, called Libamjpsttom)

10.6 Cuisine

Further information: Hungarian cuisineIn the modern age, Budapest developed its own pecu-

Interior of Gundel Restaurant

liar cuisine, based on products of the nearby region, aslamb, pork and vegetables special in the region. ModernHungarian cuisine is a synthesis of ancient Asiatic com-ponents mixed with French, Germanic, Italian, and Slavicelements. The food of Hungary can be considered a melt-ing pot of the continent, with a culinary base formed fromits own, original Magyar cuisine. Considerable numbersof Saxons, Armenians, Italians, Jews and Serbs settled inthe Hungarian basin and in Transylvania, also contribut-ing with dierent new dishes. Elements of ancient Turk-ish cuisine were adopted during the Ottoman era, in theform of sweets (for example dierent nougats, like whitenougat called trkmz, quince (birsalma), Turkish de-light), Turkish coee or rice dishes like pilaf, meat and

vegetable dishes like the eggplant, used in eggplant sal-ads and appetizers, stued peppers and stued cabbagecalled tlttt kposzta. Hungarian cuisine was inuencedby Austrian cuisine under the Austro-Hungarian Empire,dishes and methods of food preparation have often beenborrowed from Austrian cuisine, and vice versa.[194]

Budapest restaurants reect diversity, with menus carry-ing traditional regional cuisine, fusions of various culi-nary inuences, or innovating in the leading edge of newtechniques. Budapest' food shops also have a solid rep-utation for supplying quality specialised culinary prod-ucts and supplies, reputations that are often built upover generations. These include many shops, such asCaf Gerbeaud, one of the greatest and most traditionalcoeehouses in Europe, or the Gundel restaurant and gas-tro shop in the City Park. Diners can also nd the highestquality foods served in several Michelin-starred restau-rants, like Onyx, Costes or Borkonyha.

10.7 In ction

The 1906 novel The Paul Street Boys, the 1937 novelJourney by Moonlight, the 1957 book The Bridge at An-dau, the 1975 novel Fateless, the 1977 novel The Endof a Family Story, the 1986 book Between the Woodsand the Water, the 1992 novel Under the Frog, the 1987novel The Door, the 2002 novel Prague, the 2003 bookBudapeste, the 2004 novel Ballad of the Whisky Robber,the 2005 novels Parallel Stories and The Historian, the2012 novel Budapest Noir are set, amongst others, partlyor entirely in Budapest. Some of the better known fea-ture lms set in Budapest are Kontroll, The District!, EinLied von Liebe und Tod, Sunshine, An American Rhap-sody, As You Desire Me, The Good Fairy, Hannas War,The Journey, Ladies in Love, Mehbooba, Music Box, TheShop Around the Corner, Zoo in Budapest, Underworld,and Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol. The GrandBudapest Hotel (2014) is a Wes Anderson lm. It waslmed in Germany and set in the ctional Republic ofZubrowka which is in the alpine mountains of Hungary.

11 SportsSee also: Football in Budapest and Category:Sport inBudapest

Budapest has seven professional football teams:Ferencvros, MTK Budapest, jpest, Budapest Honvd,Vasas, Csepel, Budapesti TC, six of them have won theHungarian 1st division.City Park (Vrosliget) and Margit Island are perfectplaces to nd some green area in the city. In the City Parkin winter you can enjoy ice skating on one of the largestarticial ice surfaces in the world. Bandy is played here.

24 12 EDUCATION

Lszl Papp Budapest Sports Arena

Budapest had the worlds rst articially frozen bandyeld, built in 1923.[195]

Margaret Island oers a wide range of sports at the Al-frd Hajs Swimming Centre, where Budapest hostedthe LEN European Aquatics Championships in 2006 and2010. Budapest was the host for the ITU TriathlonWorldChampionships 2010, too. The 2011 IIHF World Cham-pionship (Division I, Group A) and Athletics - 2012 Eu-ropean Cross Country Championships was held there.The 2014 World Masters Athletics Championships willbe held in Budapest.The city is the proud home for many Olympic, World,and Europen Championship winners and medalists. Thecitys largest football stadium is named after the worldfamous Ferenc Pusks; top class player of Real Madridand the Hungarian National Team, who was recognisedas the top scorer of the 20th century and who the FIFA'sPusks Award (Ballon d'Or) was named after.[196]

The city is also home to Hungarian bandy. The BandyWorld Championship for women 2007[197] and the BandyWorld Championship 2004 /B-group/ were held here.[198]

The Hungarian Grand Prix in Formula 1 is a recurringevent since 1986, being held at the Hungaroring just out-side the city.

12 Education

See also: Education in HungaryAnnually there are 400,000 students in the higher ed-ucation system. Hungary has 70 operating higher edu-cation institutions (more than half in Budapest). Hun-garian institutions of higher education have started thetransformation toward the regulations of the Bologna sys-tem. In the new system, both colleges and universitiesmay launch bachelor, master and PhD programmes pro-vided that the necessary requirements are fullled. Thisalso means that all awarded degrees are equivalent andtransferrable throughout the EU and many other coun-tries. Budapest is Hungarys main centre of educationand home to numerous notable universities:

Main Building of the Budapest University of Technology andEconomics in 1909. It is one of the oldest Institutes of Technologyin the world (founded in 1782)

Main Building of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music (founded in1875)

Etvs Lornd University (1635) Budapest Business School (1857) Central European University (1991) Budapest University of Technology and Economics(1782)

Corvinus University of Budapest (1920) National University of Public Service (2011) Semmelweis University (medical university,1769) Szent Istvn University (2000) buda University (2000) Pzmny Pter Catholic University (1635) Kroli Gspr University of the Hungarian Re-formed Church (1855)

Evangelical-Lutheran Theological University(1557)

Budapest University of Jewish Studies (1877) International Business School, Budapest (1991)

25

Andrssy Gyula German Language University ofBudapest (2002)

Hungarian University of Fine Arts (1871) Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (1870) Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music (1875) Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest (1865)

13 Notable peopleMain article: List of people from Budapest

14 International relationsBudapest has quite a few sister cities and many partnercities around the world.[199] Like Budapest, many of themare the most inuential and largest cities of their coun-try and region, most of them are the primate city andpolitical, economical, cultural capital of their country.The Mayor of Budapest says the aim with improving sis-ter city relationships is to allow and encourage a mutualexchange of information and experiences, as well as co-operation, in the areas of city management, education,culture, tourism, media and communication, trade andbusiness development.[200]

14.1 Historic sister cities

14.2 Partnerships around the worldSome of the citys districts are also twinned to small citiesor districts of other big cities, for details see the articleList of districts and towns in Budapest.

15 Gallery Buda Castle Hungarian Parliament Building Museum of Fine Arts Saint Stephens Basilica Matthias Church Szchenyi Chain Bridge Heroes Square with the Millenary Monument Budai Vigad Vajdahunyad Castle

Hungarian National Museum Saint Elisabeth Church The Great Synagogue Museum of Applied Arts Fishermans Bastion Andrssy Avenue was recognised as a World Her-itage Site

King Saint Stephens sculpture in Buda Castle Castle Theatre National Theatre Liberty Bridge Liberty Statue

16 See also Budapest metropolitan area Fort Budapest List of cemeteries in Budapest List of famous people of Budapest List of lms shot in Budapest List of historical capitals of Hungary Music of Budapest Outline of Hungary Spas in Budapest Urban and Suburban Transit Association (most ofits activity is centred on Budapest)

17 References

17.1 Sources Budapest: Eyewitness Travel Guildes. DK Travel.2007. ISBN 978-0-7566-2435-4.

Barber, Annabel (2004). Visible Cities Budapest: ACity Guide. Somerset. ISBN 978-963-212-986-0.

Ungvary, Krisztian (2006). The Siege of Budapest:One Hundred Days in World War II. Yale UniversityPress. ISBN 978-0-300-11985-5.

Molnar, Miklos (2001). A Concise History of Hun-gary. Cambridge Concise Histories. CambridgeUniversity Press. ISBN 9780521667364.

26 17 REFERENCES

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17.2 Notes 27

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[38] Beckett, Edward; Olson, Parmy. In Pictures: EuropesMost Idyllic Places To Live. Forbes.

[39] Innovati