A Brief History of Budapest, Hungary, Budapest History, historic Budapest

A Brief History of Budapest

A Brief History of Budapest

Late in the first century AD the Romans marched in to establish Aquincum, the capital of the province of Pannonia. North of Gellért Hill, later called Óbuda, it is the site of extensive Roman ruins. Later generations would contend with the Goths and the Huns.

In the 13th century construction spread in earnest to the other side of the river, Pest, but the invasion of the Tartars revealed an urgent need for a more defensible position, and so the terraced Castle Hill was built and named Buda. Castle hill rises like a jeweled jade above the city, home to the green-domed palace, museums, shops, restaurants, monuments, cobble stone streets and ancient ruins. However, after the Battle of Mohács, it was sacked and burned by the Ottoman Turks. (Some say Budapest has survived a thousand sieges.) The Turks constructed exquisite bath houses, and influenced Budapest for the rest of history, evidenced by numerous buildings with onion-curved Turkish roofs. However, the Turks finally surrendered the city in 1699 to the Austrian crown. After the formation of the Austro-Hungarian dynasty, Buda, Óbuda, and Pest united as Budapest in 1873. The union sparked extraordinary activity. Grand boulevards, Parliament, St. Matthias Church, the first electric subway in Europe (the yellow line), Andrássy út above it. Many structures date from that time. Though WWII devastated Buda, and the Russians forced Soviet-style block monotony, the Hungarian revolution of 1956 put an end to that. Although many of the older structures were not remodelled, neither were they destroyed. So, in spite of her tumultuous history, building and rebuilding, Budapest developed an exciting character unlike any in Europe, combining Victorian, Gothic, medieval, and modern influences, mixed in with Turkish, Macedonian, Slavic, Magyar, German, and Russian. Amidst it all, the gusto of its people wove gypsy violins, love, and the romantic Danube into the cultural mecca it is today.