Budapest: The beautiful city with the darkest of pasts
Carved through and framed by the mighty River Danube, Budapest and its beautiful skyline make it one of Europe’s finest and most compelling cities.
Hungary’s capital became one city in 1873, when Buda, on the western banks of the Danube, and Pest, on the east, united to become the second largest city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Its vast parliament building, citadel and castle are legendary. But it’s beyond these fabulous sights that the true Budapest reveals itself.
Today, Budapest is emerging from decades of fast-paced change, brought about by the collapse of communism in 1989 and the burst of creative energy that came with those newfound freedoms. The brutality of 40 years of communist rule and the preceding period of fascism has left its mark on the city, but there is a steadfastness here that feels inescapable. An ability to carry on in the face of the greatest of challenges.
The Ruin Bars District is the apotheosis of local people seeing opportunity in adversity. And while many of those managing, working and drinking in these establishments may not remember the fall of the Berlin Wall, it’s clear that their psychology and philosophy have been affected by the momentous event.
Budapest’s ruin bars first emerged in the early 2000s, when young creatives looking for a new, affordable space for people to hang out began developing pop-up bars in crumbling buildings in the VII District, which during Nazi times had been the Jewish Ghetto
Carved through and framed by the mighty River Danube, Budapest and its beautiful skyline make it one of Europe’s finest and most compelling cities. Hungary’s capital became one city in 1873, when Buda, on the western banks of the Danube, and Pest, on the east, united to become the second largest city in the Austro-Hungarian…