by Larry Eder
This is Wednesday, April 19, 2023, and our subject today is Budapest, Hungary.
Budapest will host the 2023 World Athletics Outdoor Championships from August 19-27, 2023.
Budapest is one of the most fascinating cities in all of Europe. Founded in 1 AD, the city is actually three cities, Pest, Buda, and Óbuda. In Óbuda (District III), one will find the ancient Roman city of Aquincum, which dates to 89 AD.
The number of cultures who have inhabited the lands that are now Budapest, Hungary, are fascinating.
The Romans began the settlement of Aquincum in 89 A9, by 106 AC; Aquincum was the main city in Pannonia Inferior.
You can see the town of Aquincum in the Óbuda district, within Budapest. The first Kingdom of Hungary was founded in the 10th century by the Magyar Tribes, lead by Árpád. There is an indoor and outdoor museum. The descendants of Árpád ruled the Kingdom of Hungary until the 13th century. In 1361, the city of Buda became the capital of Hungary.
During the Renaissance, Buda hosted the Bibliotheca Corviniana, which was the second finest library in the world, with the only larger and more extensive Libary being at the Vatican. The Bibliotheca Corviniana had the finest collection of historical and philosophical texts in all of Europe.
The Ottoman Turks conquered Buda in 1529 and occupied the city in 1551. The Ottomans stayed in power for 150 years. A modern visitor can still visit some of the Turkish baths, such as Rudas Baths and Király Baths, built over 500 years ago!
The cities of Pest, Buda, and Óbuda came together in 1873 officially, and since then, the city with this magnificent history has been called Budapest.
It was the capital of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. At the end of World War 1, the Great War, Austria-Hungary collapsed.
The Republic of Hungary was proclaimed in 1918.
Some of Budapest was destroyed during the Second World War by the British and Americans Air Forces. Budapest sustained major damage in the Battle of Budapest (24 December 1944 to 13 February 1945.
The city was rebuilt during the Soviet occupation, which ended in 1991. Much of the wartime damage was repaired. In 1987, the Buda Castle, were listed in the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites.
The various cultural histories in Budapest have given this Central Europan city a vibrant architectural history, wonderful museums, and an incredibly diverse culinary universe.
To find out more about visiting Budapest, Hungary, and to purchase tickets
The World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, will be held August 19-27, 2023, and tickets are available now! Click here to learn more about ticket sales: https://tickets.wabudapest23.com/
Your favorite writer suggests a wonderful book on Hungary, The Hungarians, A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat, by Paul Lendvai, Translated by Ann Major, Princeton University Press, www.pupress.princeton.edu.
