According to abbreviationfinder, Budapest is the capital of Hungary, covers 525 km 2 on both sides of the Danube, which leaves here the Hungarian Central Mountains and flows into the Great Hungarian Plain, (2018) 1.75 million residents.
On the right, mountainous bank of the Danube, on the slope of the Buda Mountains, are the districts of Buda (German furnace) and Óbuda (German old furnace), on the left, flat bank (110 m above sea level) the district of Pest. In the north of the urban area, the Danube flows around Margaret Island with its parks and sports facilities and other islands.
Budapest forms an administrative unit on an equal footing with the districts of the country and is also the administrative seat of the Pest district.
Administrative and cultural institutions
Budapest is the country’s dominant cultural and economic center. In addition to three large universities (Eötvös Loránd University, Technical and Economic University) there are Semmelweis University (medical university), the Franz Liszt Academy for Music, the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts and other universities and technical colleges. Budapest is the seat of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (founded in 1825) and numerous research institutes; Libraries, National Archives. There are around 100 museums (including the History Museum, Hungarian National Gallery, Hungarian National Museum, Museum of Applied Arts, Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Hall, Ethnographic Museum, Natural History Museum, Museum of Jewish Religion and History); more than 20 theaters (including the National Theater, State Opera, Operetta theater); zoological and botanical garden.
Economy
The leading industrial sectors are traditionally mechanical engineering and vehicle construction as well as the electrotechnical industry, as well as the chemical, pharmaceutical, paper, food and clothing industries (Budapest is a fashion center). Bio, information and communication technologies are becoming increasingly important. The economic dynamism of the city is based primarily on the expanding service sector, Budapest has developed into one of the most important financial, banking and trading centers in Eastern Central Europe. The pure production activities are increasingly taking a back seat to the organizational functions of the local companies, such as management and marketing, and research and development play an important role. Around half of all foreign direct investments made in Hungary since 1990 went to Budapest, most international investors chose the location of their company headquarters here. Almost all of the country’s book publishers are based in Budapest, and all of Hungary’s national daily newspapers are published here.
Tourism is of great importance. Budapest is one of the most attractive cities in Europe, has many sights, a congress center and is also known as the “spa town” because of its numerous thermal springs. About 20 km from the city center is the Hungaroring (car racing track).
Budapest is the country’s largest transport hub. The Hungarian road and rail network is geared towards the capital. The port of Csepel (with free port) in the south of the city is the most important Hungarian inland port. Budapest’s Ferihegy Airport (actually Liszt Ferenc) is one of the most modern and largest in Central Europe. The districts of Buda and Pest are connected by several bridges and a railway tunnel. The underground (since 1896) is the second oldest (after London) in Europe.
Attractions
On the remains of the royal castle in Buda, which was built in the 13th century, expanded several times, destroyed and rebuilt, a baroque palace was built in 1714–70 and expanded in 1875 and 1892–1904. During excavations on the occasion of the restoration after 1945, Gothic sculptures of high artistic quality were found that show direct French influence.
The three-aisled Matthias Church (coronation church of the Hungarian kings, built 1255-69, extended into the 15th century, served as a mosque in the 16th and 17th centuries, was restored in the 19th and 20th centuries in a neo-Gothic style) is located on the elongated castle hill., the old town hall (1692–1774) and the Fisherman’s Bastion on the steep slope facing the Danube (neo-Romanesque complex from 1901–05). In Buda there is also the Church of Saint Anne (1740–70), the Franciscan Church (1753–70) and four Turkish baths from the 16th century.
The inner city parish church is located in Pest (originally Romanesque, renovated in Gothic style in the 15th century, also served as a mosque in Turkish times, was redesigned in Baroque style in 1725–40); the Hungarian National Museum (1837–47, the most important classical building in the country; St. Stephen’s Crown has been kept here since 1978); the State Opera (1875–84); the Museum of Applied Arts (1893–96); the theological faculty of the Eötvös Loránd University (1715–72, built as a Pauline monastery) with a baroque library hall extending through two floors (rich wood carving) and the Hungarian National Bank in Art Nouveau style (1900–05).
The characteristic neo-Gothic parliament building (1884–1904) stands on the banks of the Danube. Examples of modern architecture include the buildings by György Kévés (* 1935), especially the terrace houses (1966, 1970, 1975), the Hotel Corvinus (opened in 1992) by József Finta and Antal Puhl, and the “Palace of the Arts” (2003–05) by Gabor Zoboki with a concert hall, Ludwig Museum for Contemporary Art, National Dance Theater and an exhibition and event complex for Hungarian folk art, built next to the New National Theater (opened in 2002) in the modern Millennium Városközpont district.
In and around the Roman military colony of Aquincum, the remains of two amphitheatres, the governor’s palace built under Hadrian in AD 107, Mithras sanctuaries, early Christian churches, thermal baths, residential houses with mosaic floors and grave monuments were excavated.
On the basis of public funding, an urban renewal program was launched in 1994, within the framework of which numerous historical facades could be renovated. UNESCO declared the Buda Castle district and the bank zone on the Danube to be a World Heritage Site (Budapest [World Heritage]).
