Things to do in Budapest
Introduction (A little bit of history...)
Budapest was originally founded during the Roman Empire under the name Aquincum (Water Town) Some ruins are still available to visit at Obuda (ancient Buda), one of the oldest parts of the City. The Buda side started developing after the Mongol raids, 1241, when the first castle has been erected in the recent Castle district, under the reign of IV. Bela. After several changes of capitals, finally Buda has been promoted to the crown capital of the Hungarian kingdom.
Margaret Island was named after King Bela's daughter, as she was offered to a monastery in an exchange for God helping Hungarians surviving the attacks of the Mongol hordes. Luckily for Hungary (maybe not so for Margaret) this exchange was successful.
Buda was the capital of Hungary until it was defeated by the Turks (1541), then it was split to three different territories with three different capitals: The Turkish occupied territories were still controlled from Buda, although the Habsburg occupied territories were under the control of Pozsony (currently Bratislava), and the independent Hungarian remain areas were controlled from Gyulafehervar (currently Alba Iulia in Romania).
The Pest area was mainly swamp land until the 14th century, when the first settlements were founded in order to supply the Buda side with food and goods. The main developement was started by the 1700`s, although even by the 1800`s the Pest side looked rather like a suburban village, rather than a part of a capital city. The main sights like the National Museum, Szechenyi Library and the Chain Bridge started development during the reform age (1825-1848). The second independence war against the Habsburgs (1848-49)stopped this process until the Collaboration Agreement (1867).
In 1873, the formerly three independent cities (Buda, Obuda and Pest)were unified under the name of Budapest.
This unification brought up a second wave of development including, such great buildings as the St. Stephen Basilica, Opera House, Market Hall and finally the Parliament (1896). The City Park was developed for the Millenary Celebration (1896), including the Unesco world heritage site Andrassy Avenue, Szechenyi Bath and finally, the Zoo.
Budapest was already evolving during the 1900`s but it was demolished when Hungary became one of the casualties of WWI and she had lost 2/3 of its territories. Therefore many people moved to Budapest from the occupied territories. Most of the labor districts as Jozsefvaros, Ferencvaros and Angyalfold were developed during this time.
During WWII, Budapest only suffered major bombings between October 1944 and February 1945.
The last uprising which destroyed some parts of Budapest, was during the 1956 revolution. After this, the communist regime did not spend much on renovations and even now, almost 20 years after, the local councils/government are unable to renovate all these historical buildings. This is why you can spot some run down buildings in the 6th, 7th and 8th districts, sometimes even in the downtown area. Despite this, Budapest's architecture is one of the most beautiful in Central Europe.