Budapest Introduction

City Introduction

Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is the major political, commercial and transportation center. As well, it is the largest city of the country. Located in the north-central border, Budapest is known as a famous ancient city in Europe, lying alongside the middle reaches of the Danube River since it used to be two isolated cities. After further expansion in several centuries, the city Buda and ancient Buda, which lie on the left side of Danube, amalgamated with Pest, a city standing on the right side of Danube, in 1873. The Danube runs through many European cities and Budapest has been hailed as “The Pearl on the Danube” and “Petite Paris". It is easy to recognize the directions in this city since the Danube is a south-north river. As a result, Buda is in the West and Pest in the East.

History and Culture

The recorded history of Budapest originated from the Castle Aquincum established in the 89th of Roman Empire and the residential areas to its north, in which today’s ancient Buda lies. The first official bridge between the two cities was built under the proposal of Istvan Szecheny, a reformer in Hungary, from 1839 to 1849. Nowadays, this bridge is named after Istvan Szecheny. Through centuries, the ethnic Hungarians had been wandering on the plateau of Eastern Europe. Afterwards, they moved to Carpathian Basin, the site of former Ava Kingdom, and finally settled down there. In the year of 896 AD, the Hungarians conquered this place under the leadership of Emperor Arpád. Before long, they discarded the nomadic life style and stopped hunting to begin farm. In 955, Ott, the late emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, defeated the Hungarians in Ostberg and forced them to abandon the plan of western expedition. Thereafter, the Hungarians began to get close to Western Christian countries and their culture. The theater art in Hungary is very famous in Europe, which has a long-standing tradition. Cinema art has played an important role in cultural life of Hungary since early 2000s. A number of Hungarian poets, writers, directors, musicians, singers, dancers, painters, architects, scientists and inventors are famous not only in Hungary but also throughout the world.

Natural Environment

Budapest lies alongside the Danube River, which flows into Hungary Plateau from the mountainous area in Mid-Hungary. The peak of Budapest is 527 meters in height. Lying on a geologic fault, Budapest is famous for hot spring resources.

Climate

Sheltered from the mountains and located in inland area, Budapest has a relatively dry climate in humid temperate continental climate zone. It is warm in winter and hot in summer. The average temperature is around -1°C in January and 21°C in July. The precipitation reaches the summit in early summer and the average annual precipitation is about 600 mm.

Official Website

http://budapest.hu/sites/english/Lapok/default.aspx/