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| Bridges connecting Buda and Pest. | |
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Some of the information below was derived from: "Budapest." Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com |
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A tale of two cities Budapest, within city limits, covers 525 sq km (203 sq mi). Buda, now a section of Budapest located on the western side of the Danube, occupies one-third of the city's area, while Pest, the city section on the eastern side of the river, occupies the remaining two-thirds. The two sections of the city separated by the Danube river are markedly different. Pest sprawls across flat terrain while Buda is very hilly. The hills of Buda are between 150 and 500 m (500 and 1,600 ft) high. Historically the seat of government, Buda has an elegance derived from its beautiful Gothic churches and public buildings and its exclusive residential neighborhoods. Pest possesses monumental government buildings and the city's most popular shopping thoroughfare, Váci Avenue. Pest is generally more industrial than Buda. Residential and industrial neighborhoods sprawl beyond the historic central areas of Buda and Pest in all directions. Eight bridges connect Buda and Pest, seven of which date from before World War II. All of these were damaged in the war and had to be rebuilt. The older bridges are considered marvels of civic engineering, particularly the Chain Bridge (built in 1849) and Liberty Bridge (1896). The Elizabeth Bridge (completed in 1903) was not rebuilt in its original form, but rather a new, contemporary design was substituted in 1964. A trip to Hungary's capital is dominated by the majestic sights of Buda. For the average Pest resident, Buda is a place you either live in because you are well off, or you go there for picnics. For a Buda resident, Pest is a place you go to work, and then hightail it out of before dark. The differences go back a long way. Buda, location of the Royal Palace, was the seat of power. When the Turks occupied Buda very few Hungarians resided on the western bank of the Danube, mainly because there were no churches in Turkish Buda. Bosnians, Serbs, Gypsies and Sephardic Jews made up the bulk of the working and trading classes. After the Habsburgs retook the castle in 1686, Buda was repopulated by German-speaking Swabians. Buda thus maintained a Catholic loyalist bent towards the Habsburg regime which persevered into this century. German was still widely spoken in Buda in the early twentieth century, and pockets of Sváb Germans still maintain their distinct language and beery gemütlichkeit - complete with oom-pah brass bands - in Óbuda and Budaors, as well in nearby villages such as Solymar and Budakeszi. Pest, on the other hand, had always been a city speaking Hungarian. Economically and culturally locked in with the Hungarian plains, Pest became a melting pot where the different nationalities of the Carpathian basin forged themselves a new identity based on speaking Hungarian. It was in Pest that Magyars, Slovaks, Jews, Germans and others united in 1848 as Hungarians, and speaking Hungarian was the passport to acceptance in society, literature and business. The dichotomy of a dour, conservative Buda versus a lively, progressive Pest continues to this day. People tend to stick to their own side of the river when going out casually. Buda's hills provide a fresher atmosphere in the dusty hot summers, so the upper classes reside there - especially in posh Rózsadomb. Working-class families prefer shady but flat Zugló in Pest. Even though there is a large university complex in south Buda, students socialise in Pest, where almost all concert venues and late-night bars are located. Most art collections are in Buda. All of the football stadiums are in Pest. Buda's groceries stock olive oil and raddiccio, while Pest's are museums of starchy Hungarian staples. Bread is generally thought to be better in Buda than in Pest. Wine is cheaper in Pest. And everyone knows that the most beautiful girls all live in Újpest. |
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