.: Budapest, Hungary

30.7.18

Budapest, Hungary

Touch down Budapest, capital of Hungary!

Budapest is the tenth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits. When I arrived, I didn’t know what to expect of Budapest! I know that it is a beautiful city and with beautiful architecture--plus the fact that it actually in my bucket list but haven’t had the chance to put it in realization; so it's about time to explore the eastern Europe!

I must say that Budapest has strengths in commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment!!

The central area of the city along the Danube River is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has many notable monuments, including the Hungarian Parliament, Buda Castle, Fisherman's Bastion, Gresham Palace, Széchenyi Chain Bridge, Matthias Church and the Liberty Statue. Many of these will be in my next post. Another famous landmarks include Andrássy Avenue, St. Stephen's Basilica, Heroes' Square, the Great Market Hall, the Nyugati Railway Station built by the Eiffel Company of Paris in 1877 and the second-oldest metro line in the world, the Millennium Underground Railway. The city also has around 80 geothermal springs, the largest thermal water cave system, second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building in the world.

The history of Budapest began with the ancient city of Aquincum, an original Celtic settlement that became the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia. Hungarians arrived in the territory in the 9th century. Their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241. The re-established town became one of the centers of Renaissance humanist culture by the 15th century.Following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, the region entered a new age of prosperity, and Budapest became a global city with the unification of Buda and Óbuda on the west bank with Pest on the east bank on November 17, 1873.

Budapest also became the co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a great power that dissolved in 1918, following World War I. The city was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Battle of Budapest in 1945, and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

The Heroes Square or Hosok Tere is one of the major squares in Budapest, Hungary, noted for its iconic statue complex featuring the Seven Chieftains of the Magyars and other important Hungarian national leaders, as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The square lies at the outbound end of Andrássy Avenue next to City Park Városliget.

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