Geography of Hungary

With a land area of 93,030 square kilometers, Hungary is a country in Central Europe. It measures about 250 kilometers from north to south and 524 kilometers from east to west. It has 2,258 kilometers of boundaries, shared with Austria to the west, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia to the south and southwest, Romania to the southeast, the Ukraine to the northeast, and Slovakia to the north.

Hungary's modern borders were first established after World War I when, by the terms of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, it lost more than 71% of what had formerly been the Kingdom of Hungary, 58.5% of its population, and 32% of the Hungarians. With the aid of Nazi Germany, the country secured some boundary revisions at the expense of parts of Slovakia in 1938, Carpatho-Ukraine in 1939, Romania in 1940 and Yugoslavia in 1941. However, Hungary lost these territories again with its defeat in World War II. After World War II, the Trianon boundaries were restored with a small revision that benefited Czechoslovakia.

Most of the country has an elevation of fewer than 200 meters. Although Hungary has several moderately high ranges of mountains, those reaching heights of 300 meters or more cover less than 2% of the country. The highest point in the country is Kékes (1,014 m) in the Mátra Mountains northeast of Budapest. The lowest spot is 77.6 meters above sea level, located in the south of Hungary, near Szeged.

The major rivers in the country are the Danube and Tisza. The Danube also flows through parts of Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Serbia, and Romania.It is navigable within Hungary for 418 kilometers. The Tisza River is navigable for 444 kilometers in the country. Less important rivers include the Drava along the Croatian border, the Rába, the Szamos, the Sió, and the Ipoly along the Slovakian border. Hungary has three major lakes. Lake Balaton, the largest, is 78 kilometers long and from 3 to 14 kilometers wide, with an area of 592 square kilometers. Hungarians often refer to it as the Hungarian Sea. It is Central Europe's largest freshwater lake and an important recreation area. Its shallow waters offer good summer swimming, and in winter its frozen surface provides excellent opportunities for winter sports. Smaller bodies of water are Lake Velence (26 square kilometers) in Fejér County and Lake Fertő (Neusiedler See--about 82 square kilometers within Hungary).

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Hungary at world war II

World War II

The country became allied with Nazi Germany in the 1930s. The Hungarians allied themselves with the Germans in the hope that the territorial loss by the Treaty of Trianon could be reversed. Initially the alliance with Germany paid off. Some lost territories were returned to Hungary in the two Vienna Awards. In 1941, Hungary belatedly assisted the Germans with the invasion of Yugoslavia. Hungary then occupied the Backa. On 22 June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa). The Hungarians soon followed the Germans and entered World War II as a member of the Axis. In late 1941, the Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front experienced success at the Battle of Uman. By 1943, after the Hungarian Second Army suffered extremely heavy losses at the Battle of Stalingrad, the Hungarian government sought to negotiate a surrender with the Allies. On 19 March 1944, as a result of this duplicity, German troops quietly occupied Hungary in what was known as Operation Margarethe. But, by now it was clear that the Hungarians were Germany's "unwilling satellite". On 15 October 1944, the pro-West Horthy again ran afoul of the Germans. This time the Germans launched Operation Panzerfaust and Horthy was replaced by a puppet government under the pro-German Prime Minister Ferenc Szálasi. Szálasi and his pro-Nazi Arrow Cross Party remained loyal to the Germans until the end of the war. In late 1944, Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front again experienced success at the Battle of Debrecen. But this was followed immediately by the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the Battle of Budapest. On 28 December 1944, a "provisional government" was formed in Hungary under acting Prime Minister Béla Miklós. While the Miklós government immediately ousted Prime Minister Ferenc Szálasi's government, the Germans and pro-German Hungarians loyal to Szálasi fought on in Hungary. On 20 January 1945, representatives of the Hungarian "provisional government" went to Moscow and agreed to complete Hungarian capitulation. Again, the Germans and pro-German Hungarians loyal to Szálasi fought on in Hungary. On 13 February 1945, the Hungarian capital city surrendered unconditionally. On 8 May 1945, World War II in Europe officially ended.

Holocaust

Hungary was the first modern nation to pass distinctly anti-Semitic laws. The "numerus clausus" laws of the early 1920s restricted Jewish access to higher education. In the late 1930s, more specifically anti-Semitic laws followed. Though massacres of Jews by Hungarian forces took place during the early part of the Second World War, Hungary initially resisted large scale deportation of its Jewish population. Ultimately, however, during the German occupation in May-June 1944, the Arrow Cross Party and Hungarian police deported nearly 440,000 Jews, mostly to Auschwitz. Over 400,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, as well as tens of thousands of Roma people. Hundreds of Hungarian people were also executed by the Arrow Cross Party for sheltering Jews, among them Sister Sára Salkaházi. Foreign heads of states and diplomats who helped save many lives included Cardinal Roncalli, later Pope John XXIII, Raoul Wallenberg, and Carl Lutz. Italian businessman Giorgio Perlasca posed as a Spanish diplomat in order to issue forged visas and establish safe houses, including one for Jewish children. When Soviet forces liberated Budapest in February 1945, more than 100,000 Jews remained.

Budapest: the Buda side

The main Budapest sights on the Buda Side are:

Royal Palace

The Royal Palace (sometimes called the Buda Castle) has become the essence of the historic buildings in Budapest. The palace was the theatre of struggles and conflicts since the year 1200, and after being destroyed in the seventeenth century during the battles against the Turks, it was rebuilt by the Habsburgs. Today the building is dedicated to peaceful initiatives, since hosting the National Széchenyi Library and two museums: the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum.

Matthias Church

The church was founded by King Béla IV in the thirteenth century and at first dedicated to Our Lady,later the name chainged in Matthias after the restauration ordered by King Matthias Corvinus about 1470. On the facade of the tower is placed the royal coat of arms, which, in fact, gave the church its name. After the destruction occurred during the siege of 1686, when Charles of Lorraine finally fight off the Turks, the church was rebuilt, and took its present form. Still damaged in the 2nd World War, it was restored in the 60s. Matthias Church was the scene of the coronation of some Hungarian kings. In the church there is the collection of religious art, where are shown the lapidary, the reliquary and the history of the Hungarian Holy Crown and the masterpieces of jewelry treasure. The church tower is 80 meters high.

The Fishermen’s Bastions

During the Middle Ages instead of today's Fisherman's Bastion there was a fish market and a fishing village, and this is the reason of this curious name. The Bastion, built in 1901-03, is a Neo-Gothic and Neo-Romanesque ramparts system of the medieval walls even though he never played a defense purpose. Iits terraces presents an extraordinary view over the Danube and the Pest side. In 1988 the panorama of Buda with the Fishermen's Bastion was included in UNESCO World Heritage site.


These main sights of Budapest are essential in your Budapest city-tour!

History of the Budapest Keleti Train Station

In 1867, when the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, Budapest has five railway stations. In 1883, due to the increase in passenger traffic to the Hungarian capital, the future is built Keleti instead of grants Kerepesi út, located on the current Baross tér. The Budapest municipality decides to align the front of the large hall on the perspective of Rákóczi utca. Due to the configuration of the site, this decision forced manufacturers to extend the railway along Thököly út, which complicates still maneuvering and handling.

In the early years, the Keleti railway station is connected by a double track the rest of the Hungarian national network. Originally, the junction was via the station Józsefváros, located a few hundred meters to the south. The rapid degradation routes pushes designers to consider their own access to the Keleti railway station. Over the years, the station is constantly redesigned and reconfigured. The railway line runs gradually equips a rotunda, a train repair shop, but also an area dedicated to postal transport. During the First World War, the station essentially responds to the needs of the army, which blocks the expansion envisaged.

In 1926, the station receives only 72 trains per day. To fight against the decline of passenger traffic, cars are added to each train to increase the length. Due to the small size of the siting of the station, engineers create a new system of correspondences to deal with the increased traffic. The first catenary is installed in 1931.
After the Second World War, Keleti was badly damaged by bombing in succession. In 1969, the arrival of the Budapest M2 metro line transforms the station forecourt in open forum, allowing access to subways.

A Three-Hour Walk Around Óbuda

At frist glace Óbuda today seems little more than a concrete jungle of tower blocks and flyovers. Behind the grey facade, however, there is a strong local identity and clues to the area’s long and colourful past abound. Arriving here in AD 89, the Romans built a garrison in this district shortly before founding the civilian town of Aquincum to the north. After the departure of Romans in the 5th century AD, successive waves of invaders, including the Magyars all left their mark on Obuda (literally “Old Buda”). By the end of the 16th century, Obuda was a thriving market town, eventually forming part of the city of Budapest in 1873.

Amphitheatre to the Roman Camp Museum Begin the walk at the corner of Becsi utca and Pacsirtamez≥ ut, which is dominated by the remains of a very fine Roman amphitheatre 1. The Romans arrived in the region soon after the time of Christ, building this impressive amphitheatre in the middle of the 2nd century AD, by which time Aquincum was the thriving capital of the province of Lower Pannonia. Originally used by the Roman soldiers from the nearby garrison, it became a fortress in the 9th century for the invading Magyar army. Not much remains of its once huge walls, but the scale of the theatre, which was designed to seat 14,000, is still awe inspiring. From the amphitheatre, continue along Pacsirtamez≥ ut to No. 63, the Roman Camp (Taborvaros) Museum 2. In the 1950s, this modern residential district, built on top of a Roman military camp complex, was found to be enormously rich in Roman artifacts. The museum (open Sundays and public holidays) houses Roman finds from the area, including ceramics, glassware and household tools.

The BKV (Budapest public transport)

The city-owned BKV runs an extensive network of surface mass transportation, with a heavy emphasis on bus service. The uniformly dark blue coloured bus fleet includes 1200 diesel vehicles on 200 routes and 15 electric trolley bus lines. Budapest-Bratislava Night service is exclusively provided by buses. The articulated bus is a hallmark of Budapest, diesel and ETB bendy vehicles have been running since the late 1950s and still form the majority of BKV's fleet. BKV buses are ubiqitous, one or more are almost always in sight anywhere in the city and a large part of the population entirely depends on them for mobility.

The passangers stats are: Approximately 55% of traffic in Budapest, a city with 1.7 million inhabitants, is still carried by BKV vehicles, with 45% remaining for private cars. During 2003 all-together 1.4 billion people travelled with BKV. During the socialist era, Budapest had 2 million residents and the public vs. private travel proportion was 80% / 20% in favor of mass Budapest-Vienna transfer.

BKV sells paper-based single tickets and passes; a 25 euro pass allows an adult to travel on any BKV vehicle for one month. Budapest-Prague transfers. There are plans to introduce smartcard based passes and tickets in a few years in an attempt to reduce unpaid travel (which is currently approximately 10 percent of all passenger kilometers).

Váci utca (shopping street)

Vaci utca

The pedestrian street in Budapest Vienna the Vörösmarty square and the space between the Fővám by the Kossuth Lajos street, cut into two parts. Vörösmarty Square toward the old part of the vernacular Vaci utca, the Fővám to share space with the new street called Vaci. If the striking difference in the primary search, the more the old pedestrian street crowd, while the new street section rather quiet, contemplative typical of the passers-by. A new pedestrian street of restaurants, boutiques, clothing shops, wine shop, gift shops and ba
Vaci utca