Budapest: A Brief History

The Magyars were the founders of the Hungarian nation and when ‘Buda’ and ‘Pest’ were small villages, King Bela built a fortress in Buda in the 1275. Later King Charles Robert relocated the Court from Visegrad to Buda, and his son (Louis the Great) later on built the famous Royal Palace.

Budapest was taking shape and growing rapidly until the time when the Mongols arrived and put the Magyars to the sword. Buda and Pest were burnt to the ground. Amazingly the Mongols left the city, which was a relief, so the Magyars had a chance to rebuild and defend their country.

Buda and Pest was growing and the settlement was expanding, when the Turks under Suleyman waged war on the Hungarian army in 1526. The Hungarian army was defeated and by 1540, the Turks had full complete control of Buda and its castle. The Turks had also a fondness for thermal baths and they built the finest baths in the world in Buda. Most of them are still in use to this day bringing relief and healing to the world’s aching bones. The Turkish Empire introduced all sorts of new items to Hungary’s kitchen table, like coffee and paprika.

It was the Polish in 1686 who freed Buda and its castle from the grip of the Turkish Empire by defeating them and sending them packing. Although this was great news for Hungary, it still did not mean that Hungary was free. Hungary joined up as a province of the Austrian ’Hapsburg’ Empire. At least this meant that Budapest could continue to grow and prosper despite more battles and upheavals. Buda and Pest still had no bridge until 1849 when the Chain Bridge was opened, and around 1870’s Buda joined Pest, the Margaret Island and ‘buda’, to create the name Budapest.

Copyright @ Global Travel Solutions