Everyone knows that the capital of Hungary is Budapest. (It’s actually pronounced “BudapeSHt, since the “S” in Hungarian makes the English “sh” sound).
But in the came Civilization VI when you’re playing as Hungary you actually found the city of Buda and then later on you found the city of Pest. What’s going on here? Aren’t they one city?
The answer is yes, but they weren’t always. Budapest sits on the Danube river. On the west side are hills and on the east side are plains. People have been living here for thousands of years, but the first really permanent settlement was when the Romans settled a city here called Aquincum. A few centuries after the Romans left the Hungarians moved in and founded the city of Buda on the west side of the river, and Pest on the east side of the river.
We don’t know which one is older, but Buda quickly became the larger city and the capital of the Hungarian kingdom.
In the video above is a map from 1617 showing Buda and Pest while Hungary was occupied by the Ottoman Empire.Over the next couple of centuries, both cities continud to grow until until in 1873 they merged into one city, Budapest.
And today, despite being one city, both sides have very different vibes, economics, and obviously topography.
