Budapest, Hungary's beautiful capital

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The pearl of the Danube, Budapest was born in 1873 when authorities of mountainous Buda and lowland Pest decided to join forces and create one of the most fascinating cities in the world. Until the First World War the city flourished impressively as the second capital of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Following the II World War, Hungary fell under the influence of the Soviet Union. The communist ideology changed a great portion of the urban environment mostly in peripheral areas. Luckily the large historic heritage still dominates the city center. Once an elegant bourgeois city, today Budapest is a decadent metropolis full of culture and art.

Urbanism

The river Danube flows through the geographical center dividing it between Buda and Pest, two morphologically different areas. The chaotic urban grid of Buda owes its organization to its hilly terrain, while Pest’s tidy urban fabric fits well in the compact flat landscape. Buda’s side is dominated by private houses and local streets, while the Pest side includes wide boulevards and large palaces. The two are connected with one ring road and one semi ring, inside which the city center is located on the Pest side. The city is divided into 23 districts with Leopold town (district V) being the most centrally located.

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