Invasion by the Romans
People have inhabited the area now covered by Budapest for thousands of years. Gellért Hill was settled by a Celtic tribe in the third and fourth centuries BC, before the Romans arrived in the first century AD. The Romans conquered not only this settlement but the whole of Transdanubia, incorporating it into their empire under the name of Pannonia. The capital of this colony was constructed on the site of present-day Óbuda, and retained its Celtic name – ‘Ak Ink’ (wide water) or Aquincum (from the Latin word aqua). The Romans knew that there was thermal water here, and Aquincum grew into an important station along the limes, with two amphitheatres, sophisticated sewers and numerous baths. The remains of all these can still be seen in the modern city; the Aquincum Museum holds many excavated artefacts, including a portable water-organ made in AD228.
Founding the Hungarian State
The Magyars (ancestors of today's Hungarians) conquered the territory in AD896. They built on both sides of the Danube, using Aquincum as a base. Interestingly the areas either side of the river became known collectively as Pest, a word of Slavic origin meaning ‘stove' - most probably a reference to the territory’s warm springs. In AD1000, King István I founded the Hungarian State and allied the country to Christian Europe. After the Mongol invasion in 1241-42, the King Béla IV decided that defences needed strengthening, and ordered new fortresses to be built. He led the way by fortifying the Buda castle. Aquincum was renamed Óbuda (Old Buda) after this to distinguish it from the reconstructed, ‘new’ Buda. In the 13th century, Buda became the royal seat and it started to develop quickly. It flourished under King Sigismund, and reached its golden age under King Matthias in the 15th century.
Memories of the Ottoman Invasion
In 1541 the Turks occupied Buda. They were to remain there for 150 years, during which time the city deteriorated. In 1686 Buda Castle was finally recaptured, marking the end of Ottoman rule. The last Turkish pasha killed during the siege was buried within the castle walls by the victorious forces; the epitaph on his grave reads 'He was a noble enemy, let him rest in peace'. The tomb (or 'türbe') of Gül Baba, a Turkish dervish respected as a holy figure, is still a shrine for Muslims in Buda. The capital’s only other remaining traces of this period are several Turkish bath houses (the Király, Rác and Rudas baths), which are popular with locals and tourists alike.
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
After the country and the city had been liberated from the Turks, a massive programme of reconstruction got underway during which numerous Baroque churches, public buildings and dwelling houses were raised in Budapest. In later years neo-Classicism began to dominate the architecture. In the 18th century, a printing press and a university were moved to Buda, and in 1848 the first permanent bridge over the Danube was opened. Soon after this, in 1873, the three cities, Óbuda, Buda and Pest became legislatively and administratively unified. A Council of Public Works was formed that followed a modern concept of town planning. Three ring roads were laid down, together with a network of avenues.
The settlement with the Austrian Habsburgs in 1867 created political stability and prosperity. Rapid industrialisation began. At the turn of the century Hungary celebrated the millenary anniversary of the Magyar conquest, and further large-scale projects were commissioned - among them construction of the first underground railway on the continent.
Invasion by Soviet Troops
In the aftermath of World War II, Hungary fell under the Soviet area of influence, and was briefly transformed into a communist state. Soviet troops entered Hungary in 1944, staying initially as an occupation force (after driving out the German army), then at the nominal invitation of the Hungarian government, and finally as required by the country's membership of the Warsaw Pact. Hungarians revolted against Soviet influence in 1956, but the uprising was suppressed, and the country only became independent in 1989. Reminders of the communist era can be seen in displays like that at the House of Terror (former headquarters of the secret police) and Statue Park (which holds many of the massive communist monuments that once stood in the city's streets and squares).
Further reading
Budapest.hu
Budapestinfo.hu
Bradtguides.com
