Budapest

Budapest is famous for the beauty of its setting on the Danube River. This beauty has been heightened by the architectural splendour of its key buildings, built in pivotal locations next to the river. The Danube and its surrounds have also been crucial in the history of Budapest. Castle Hill in Buda has been the seat of Hungarian royal power since the beginning of the 13th century. The symbols of this era are still visible today. Periods of foreign conquest—first under the Ottoman Turks in the 16th century, then two and a half centuries of Habsburg rule from Vienna—have also left their mark on the city. The Golden Age of Budapest was the decades before 1914. The city experienced a veritable boom, and even today, Pest is filled with grand, lavishly decorated buildings that attest to the prosperity of this era. The 20th century brought two world wars, economic collapse, social upheaval and, between 1948 and 1989, Communist rule to Budapest. The lives of key politicians and the fates of individual people are described to show the impact of this tumultuous century. Finally, Budapest today: the city as seen by the large stream of visitors, the city of light and shade, the city of music, thermal baths, good food, entertainment and conviviality. It is all there for the reader of this book.