History
Though Budapest has formally existed only since 1873 - when the twin cities of Buda and Pest were united in a single municipality, together with the smaller Obuda - the history of settlement here goes back as far as the second millennium BC. During the first Age of Migrations, the area was settled by waves of peoples, notably Scythians from the Caucasus and Celts from what is now France. During the first century BC, the Celtic Eravisci tribe was absorbed into Pannonia, a vast province of the Roman Empire. This was subsequently divided into two regions, one of which, Pannonia Inferior, was governed from the garrison town of Aquincum on the west bank of the Danube; ruins of a camp, villas, baths and an amphitheatre can still be seen today. The Romans withdrew in the fifth century AD to be succeeded by the Huns. Germanic tribes, Lombards, Avars and Slavs all followed each other during the second Age of Migrations, until the arrival of the Magyars in about 896. According to the medieval chronicler, Anonymous, while other tribes spread out across the Carpathian basin, the clan of Arpad settled on Csepel sziget (Csepel Island), and it was Arpad's brother, Buda, who purportedly gave his name to the west bank of the new settlement. It was under the Arpad dynasty that Hungary became a Christian state, ruled first from Esztergom and later from Szekesfehervar. The development of Buda and Pest did not begin in earnest until the twelfth century, and was largely thanks to French, Walloon and German settlers who worked and traded here under royal protection. Both towns were devastated by the Mongols in 1241 and subsequently rebuilt by colonists from Germany, who named Buda " Ofen ", after its numerous lime-kilns. (The name Pest, which is of Slav origin, also means "oven".) During the fourteenth century, the Angevin kings from France established Buda as a royal seat , building a succession of palaces on the Varhegy. It reached its apogee in Renaissance times under the reign of "Good King" Matyas (1458-90) and his Italian-born wife, Queen Beatrice, with a golden age of prosperity and a flourishing of the arts. Hungary's catastrophic defeat at Mohacs in 1526 paved the way for the Turkish occupation of Buda and Pest, which lasted 160 years until a pan-European army besieged Buda Castle for six weeks, finally recapturing it at the twelfth attempt. Under Habsburg rule , with control exerted from Vienna or Bratislava, recovery was followed by a period of intensive growth during the second half of the eighteenth century. In the first decades of the following century, Pest became the centre of the Reform movement led by Count Szechenyi, whose vision of progress was embodied in the construction of the Lanchid (Chain Bridge), the first permanent link between Buda and Pest, which had hitherto relied on pontoon bridges or barges. When the Habsburg empire was shaken by revolutions which broke out across Europe in March 1848 , local reformists and radicals seized the moment. While Lajos Kossuth (1802-94) dominated parliament, Sandor Petofi (1823-49) and his fellow revolutionaries plotted the downfall of the Habsburgs in the Cafe Pilvax (which exists today in a sanitized restaurant form in central Pest), from where they mobilized crowds on the streets of Pest. After the War of Independence ended in defeat for the Hungarians, Habsburg repression was epitomized by the hilltop Citadella on Gellert-hegy, built to cow the citizenry with its guns. Following the Compromise of 1867, which established the Dual Monarchy familiarly known to its subjects as the K & K (from the German for "Emperor and King"), the twin cities underwent rapid expansion and formally merged. Pest was extensively remodelled, acquiring the Nagykorut (Great Boulevard) and Andrassy ut, the grand thoroughfare that runs from the Belvaros to the Varosliget (City Park). Hungary's millennial anniversary celebrations in 1896 brought a fresh rush of construction, and Hosok tere (Heroes' Square) and Vajdahunyad Castle at the far end of Andrassy ut are just two examples of the monumental style that encapsulated the age. New suburbs were created to house the burgeoning population, which was by now predominantly Magyar, although there were still large German and Jewish communities. At the beginning of the twentieth century the cultural efflorescence in Budapest rivalled that of Vienna and its cafe society that of Paris - a belle epoque doomed by World War I. In the aftermath of defeat, Budapest experienced the Soviet-ruled Republic of Councils under Bela Kun, and occupation by the Romanian army. The status quo ante was restored by Admiral Horthy , self-appointed regent for the exiled Karl IV - the "Admiral without a fleet, for the king without a kingdom" - whose regency was characterized by gala balls and hunger marches, bombastic nationalism and anti-Semitism. Yet Horthy was a moderate compared to the Arrow Cross Fascists, whose power grew as World War II raged. Anticipating Horthy's defection from the Axis in 1944, Nazi Germany staged a coup, installing an Arrow Cross government, which enabled them to begin the massacre of the Jews of Budapest; they also blew up the Danube bridges as a way of hampering the advance of the Red Army. The six-month-long siege of Budapest reduced the Var (Castle District) to rubble and severely damaged much of the rest of the city, making reconstruction the first priority for the postwar coalition government. As the Communists gained ascendancy, the former Arrow Cross torture chambers filled up once again. A huge statue of the Soviet dictator (whose name was bestowed upon Budapest's premier boulevard) symbolized the reign of terror carried out by Matyas Rakosi , Hungary's "Little Stalin". However, his liberally inclined successor, Imre Nagy , gave hope to the people, who refused to tolerate a comeback by the hardliners in 1956. In Budapest, peaceful protests turned into a city-wide uprising literally overnight: men, women and children defying Soviet tanks on the streets. After Soviet power had been bloodily restored, Janos Kadar - initially reviled as a quisling - gradually normalized conditions, embarking on cautious reforms to create a " goulash socialism " that made Hungary the envy of its Warsaw Pact neighbours and the West's favourite Communist state during the late 1970s. A decade later, the regime saw the writing on the wall and anticipated Gorbachev by promising free elections , hoping to reap public gratitude. Instead - as Communism was toppled in Berlin and Prague - the party was simply voted out of power in Hungary. It was such an orderly transition from one system to another, yet so pregnant with consequences, that Hungarians simply refer to all that's happened since then as " the Changes ". While governments have come and gone since the historic 1990 elections, Budapest's administration has remained in the hands of Gabor Demszky , who is running for a fourth consecutive term as mayor in 2002 - and will probably win, as voters reckon he's doing well, and aren't fazed by the hostility between Demszky and prime minister Viktor Orban (allegedly dating back to their student days at ELTE), which scuppered the mayor's National Theatre project a few years ago.
Rudas Baths - wreckedCJB says "An Article Submitted to Various Travel Mags.
A few weekends ago I went to Budapest to sample the famous 450 year old turkish baths. There are three main ones - Rudas, Rac and Kiraly. (Sorry for the lack of accented Hungarian spellings). As might be well known Hungary has recently joined the European Community and is now spending vast sums of Euros to upgrade its tourist facilities. Unfortunately this has meant that the atmospheric turkish baths - unchanged for centuries, and still with the patina of use by thousands of customers over the centuries - are now being gutted and modernised.
Certainly the Rac Baths - the only building left in the now demolished Jewish quarter by the Castle - has now been so gutted that is now resembles a bombed out shell. Gone are the baths, the steam rooms, the dry heat rooms, and everything else. The only thing that now circulates the windowless shell is the cold damp air blowing up from the frozen Danube. The Baths will now be turned into yet another clinical and sanitised 'spa' devoid of all ancient turkish history.
Unfortunately the Rudas Baths have already been given this treatment over the last two years. I was there on the opening weekend. We queued for about 20 minutes - this was a popular opening. There were three security guards at the turnstyles. There was another outside. Security guards at a turkish baths?!!! The cashier couldn't understand my request in English for admission for swimming (in the 18'th baths) and to the turkish baths. It seems that modernising for the tourists does not mean learning English (or even having any signs in English). Eventually I was sold a credit card size plastic security pass, and was grudgingly allowed to pass through the first turnstyle by a gruff looking security person. I was then directed to the turkish baths (what remained of them). There another turnstyle had to be negotiated. No towels or sheets were offered - luckily I'd brought my own. The changing rooms were all modernised cubicles just like any swimming pool. The cubicle staff were as aggressive as usual. Each cubical door was locked from the inside by using the plastic card. This released a key from the outside to be kept tied to one's swimming costume. Ah - yes - swimming costumes were mandatory - everything was co-ed now. The ancient turkish bath part that used to be for men only is now for families including screaming kids. Then I entered the turkish baths proper - and horror of horrors - the whole building had been gutted and rebuilt with garish red marble!! NOTHING remains of the original 450 year old baths except for the roof. EVERYTHING was brand spanking new. And GONE was the etheral and steamy atmosphere that had endured for so many centuries. Even the drinking fountains (taps) had been replaced by electronic proximity devices to turn the water on and off. Needless to say in the humid atmosphere these failed to work properly. The four pools of varying temperatures around the main pool had also received the dreaded red marble treatment. And believe me the newly cut marble edges were SHARP. Everything was bathed in bright light, and the coloured glass openings in the old domed roof had been removed. The dry heat rooms were tiny and now boasted plastic doors that didn't close properly. The steam rooms had been removed. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT. Obviously this is how the Rac Baths were going to end up. But worse was to come. I wanted to get something to eat and drink - but nothing was available. To visit the Cafeteria I had to pass through the second turnstyle, and to do that I had to surrender the credit card pass. And - no - I couldn't re-enter the baths. Feeling VERY upset I then decided to visit the 18'th c. smimming baths. But despite having paid for this with my credit card pass I was not allowed in. What an rip-off.
I hear that the Gellert Hotel - dating from the late 1800s/early 1900s has also just had a refurbishment - so I hope that they haven't also gone for the red marble treatment too.
Luckily the Kiraly Turkish Baths nearby have yet to be refurbished. So do visit them before they too get a makeover for the tourists from the EEC."
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