The modern city of Budapest is the unification of the ancient settlements of Buda, Obuda, and Pest in 1873. The city sprawls on the banks of the Danube in the heart of Hungary - the river still divides it into two parts (the western mountainous and hilly Buda and the flat eastern Pest).
The city is home to more than 2 million people: 90% of Budapest's population is Hungarian, 70% of them Catholic. It is the only spa capital in the world, thanks to its thermal springs, which are the basis of dozens of baths in Budapest.
The city is almost 2000 years old - in the 1st century AD the Romans founded Aquincum on the hills of Buda, which became part of the Roman Empire. Then the Magyars came here with their king Istvan - today he is considered one of the main patrons of Budapest.
The walls of the city have seen the Turkish yoke (it was the Turks who influenced the rapid flourishing of the baths and told Hungarians about paprika), the Austrians, the German invaders, and Soviet tanks. Nevertheless, Budapest was officially founded on November 17, 1873 (it was on this day that Obuda, Buda and Pest united to form a new city).
