Budapest, the Beautiful City on the Danube
By Dr Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD
Travelling by luxurious, high-speed trainjet, it took me less than three hours to reach Budapest, the capital of Hungary, from Vienna. The train sped through sleepy peaceful countryside, traversing green fields and racing by columns of power-generating windmills. Although moving at a speed of 143 miles/hr, it hardly generated any sense of motion.
There were no discernible indications of when the train crossed from Austrian into Hungarian territory. No official appeared to check our passport or collect custom declarations, an experience very different from those, one might imagine, who travelled by the storied Orient Express on a similar route from Paris to Vienna and Istanbul at the end of the nineteenth century. That was an era when travel used to be an exotic adventure, and countries jealously guarded their boundaries. Since the advent of the European Union (EU) in 1993, the national borders in Europe have become largely invisible and there is free movement of people and goods across member countries.
The main Budapest station building is imposing and its exterior showcases the glorious bygone era when trains were the foremost means of travel in Europe. I encountered a new problem as I stepped out of the train and tried to hire a taxi. Hungary, although a member of the EU, is not a member of the European economic union and has its own currency, Forint. The European currency, the Euro, is generally not accepted here and prices are quoted in hundreds or thousands of Forints, making it a challenging exercise to translate them into either Euros or US dollars for comparison. The cost of living in Budapest, one of the world’s most beautiful cities, is no higher than in Vienna, and may even be a little lower. The Hungarian language is very different from German and is only distantly related to Finnish and Estonian languages. It does not belong to the family of Indo-European languages as most European languages do to varying degrees. Most young people, however, are able to communicate in English.
The Danube River was only a few minutes of walk away from my hotel. The 1,777-miles long waterway originates in the German Black Forest and empties in the Black Sea. In ancient times, it formed the northern boundary of the Roman Empire and the Romans considered it the demarcation line separating the civilized world from the barbarians. Today, it separates the twin cities of Buda and Pest which were united as a single city in 1873 and are now connected by a dozen bridges, most of which were destroyed by the Nazis as they retreated from Budapest during the Second World War.
The scenic view from either bank of the Danube River is absolutely stunning, offering spectacular sights of pleasure boats plying the river with music and dinner parties going on onboard. Pest is the eastern, flat half of Budapest where the majestic parliament building on the bank of the Danube, designed on the pattern of the British Parliament, is located. It was built from 1884-1902, but was much damaged during the Second World War. The date of my visit, October 23, coincided with the anniversary of the start of the Hungarian revolution of 1956 against the Soviet-backed communist regime. It was a national holiday and a number of parades and patriotic speeches were going on in and around the parliament house. Not many seemed to be paying attention to them.
Buda in contrast to Pest is mountainous and very picturesque. In the olden days, according to legend, people were afraid to build houses and live there. They believed that the region was the abode of witches and demons and whoever lived there would come to grief; the frequent howling mountain winds lent such fantasies some credibility. Yet, these horror stories did not discourage the victors, the Mongol warlords, Soviet Generals and Turkish Pashas from building luxurious villas and palaces with a magnificent view of the Danube.
Perhaps, the most impressive historic site in Buda is the royal palace or Buda Castle, the residence of the former Hungarian monarchs. It is a vast complex (1.8 sq. miles) that has undergone cycles of destruction and renewal from medieval to modern times. It was built around the 14 th century and was destroyed during various regional wars. In 1526, when Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the magnificent conquered Hungary, he briefly stayed in the castle. The royal palace was spared, but the victorious Turks carted away many bronze statues and valuable volumes from the national library. Buda became the capital city of the Ottoman territories in Hungary, and a Turkish Pasha used to rule over what was known as Eyalet of Budin.
When Austria and Hungary united in 1867 to become Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Castle received new attention from the Hapsburg Emperor Francis Joseph and Empress Maria Teresa. They were crowned in the castle with great pomp and ceremony. The present structure was rebuilt, following its most recent destruction after the Second World War. Some parts of the castle date back to medieval times and have been excavated by archaeologists. The rebuilt castle now houses three museums and a national library. The view from the castle which is on a hill across the river is dazzling. It was declared a world heritage site in 1987. Yet, I found few visitors at the castle and no guides to explain its history, though written details on plaques in English at each site were somewhat helpful.
Few vestiges of the 150-years of Ottoman rule in Budapest have survived. I was especially intrigued and curious about the mausoleum of Gul Baba, the Turkish Sufi-Durvesh of the Bektashi order whose tomb is located in Buda. According to legend, Gul Baba came in the wake of the conquest of the city by Sultan Suleiman in 1526. He is credited by some historians for introducing roses to Hungary, and appropriately his tomb is situated in the midst of a beautiful rose garden. He died in 1541 and was revered by both Christians and Muslims.
It was a cold, blustery day when I visited Gul Baba mausoleum, built on a steep hill accessible through several sets of stairs on the M ecset (Mosque) Street built of cobblestones. A lone Turkish caretaker was working on his computer as I entered the compound, saw me, hurriedly unlocked the door to the octagonal mausoleum and went back without uttering a word. The sarcophagus inside was draped with expensive coverings on which verses from the Qur'an were inscribed in golden letters and the walls were adorned with costly carpets and Turkish flags. When the Ottomans were forced out of Hungary by the combined Christian forces in 1686, most Turkish monuments were destroyed, but the tomb was not disturbed. The complex is owned by the Government of Turkey. I offered my Fateha and left.
Apart from Baba Gul’s mausoleum, the other surviving relics of Ottoman-Muslim rule are the Turkish baths. Hungary is endowed with natural hot springs, with boiling hot water surging from the ground. The water has a high mineral content and is reputed to have therapeutic properties against illnesses. The Turkish Pashas founded many spas in their days and patronized them enthusiastically. Four of the baths, built in the 16 th century with thermal pools still survive, are in use and are marvelous showpiece of Ottoman architecture.
