City of Budapest, Hungary

Located on the banks of the River Danube, Budapest was originally three separate cities: Buda and Óbuda were built on a rocky spur on the right bank, and Pest on the flat terrain of the left bank. The three cities were merged in 1873.

The city of Budapest was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987 and included the Banks of the Danube and the Buda Castle Quarter. An extension to the site, which added Andrássy Avenue and its historic surroundings to the property, was approved by UNESCO in 2002.

The site now covers an area of almost 5km2 and includes many architectural and historical treasures.

Located next to the church, the neo-Romanesque Fisherman’s Bastion, which was named after the fishermen who lived below it, has a 140m-long façade and seven towers which provide panoramic views of the Danube, its banks and beyond.

The Buda Castle Garden Bazaar is a neo-Renaissance garden and building complex on the side of Castle Hill. Providing a splendid approach to the castle, it can be accessed from the banks of the Danube using either the stairs or the Castle Hill Funicular, which dates back to 1870.

In between the Elisabeth Bridge and Liberty Bridge is Gellért Hill, a rocky outcrop which rises above the Danube. At the south-eastern bastion of the Citadel, a sprawling fortress at the top of the hill, sits the Liberty Statue, which is visible from almost anywhere in Budapest.

At the end of Liberty Bridge is the Gellért Thermal Bath, a testament to Budapest’s lively 19^th century bathing culture. The Art Nouveau building provides an insight into the city’s early 20^th century architecture and features the work of famous artists of the time.

On the Pest side of the riverbank, the striking Parliament building is a truly iconic symbol of Budapest, each part of the building conveying important political and historical messages.

The prominent cupola in the middle refers to the unity of the legislature. On either side of the cupola, the lower and upper house chambers were built to exactly the same design, symbolically suggesting that the two houses had equal rights.

Just along the river is the headquarters of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, whose foundation enhanced the city’s role as the capital of the country. This Neo-Renaissance palace has been home to the Academy since 1862.

At the heart of Pest is Andrássy Avenue, the symbol of the development of the city as a modern metropolis. From 1872, the Avenue, and, later, the European continent’s first underground railway which was built beneath it, radically transformed the urban structure of Pest.

This 2.3km-long tree-lined boulevard connects Elizabeth Square with the City Park and is an urban architectural ensemble of eclectic, neo-renaissance buildings such as the Opera House, the Old Academy of Music, spectacular mansions and many boutiques, restaurants and theatres.

At the end of Andrássy Avenue is the emblematic Heroes’ Square, a testimony to Hungarian history. The square is dominated by the Millennium Monument, which was built in 1896 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin.

The monument features two semi-circular colonnades and statues of Archangel Gabriel on a 36-metre-high column, the seven Magyar chieftains who led the Hungarians into the Carpathian Basin, and other historical figures that played an active role in creating modern Hungary.

Budapest is an outstanding example of urban development in Central Europe, characterised by periods of devastation and revitalisation, with the remains of monuments from throughout time having considerable influence on the architecture of various periods. 

The scenic view of the banks of the Danube as part of the historic urban landscape, the Buda Castle Quarter with its medieval and characteristically Baroque style, and the urban architectural ensemble of Andrássy Avenue come together in unity in this rich World Heritage site.