Why Budapest is called Budapest?
You know that Budapest is the capital of Hungary. You probably know that Buda is the Western while Pest is the Eastern side of the Danube river.
You might know that Buda and Pest used to be 2 different cities and were united only in the 1870s.
You probably don't know that the city was usually referred to as Pest-Buda from the late 1840s until the unification. You don't know why Buda and Pest are called like this. Well, we aren't sure either. But we have some ideas.
Buda
Buda is a first name, like Thomas or Steven and in medieval codices Buda's name was referred to have come from the
brother of Attila the Hun, Buda. This is highly unlikely but it might have been named after another Buda somewhere along the way.
A more popular theory says that Buda comes from the same word where vodka comes from:
voda = water. This could be explained by the fact that Slavic people were once settled in the area and that thermal water has been used for 2000 years and even the Roman name Aquincum comes from the word water (Illirian / Celtic Aq or Latin Aqua).
Pest
Ptolemy called the Pest side Pession 1800 years ago however most believe the word Pest comes from a Slavic word pest that means cave while in old Hungarian language pest meant oven. Many believe this was the first name of the Gellért Hill on the Buda side.
Then the crossing to Pest was more and more often referred to Pest and eventually the name stuck.
Well, whatever is true, don't forget, Pest has nothing to do with pesticides and in Hungarian we pronounce the name BudapeSHt.
Enjoy your next visit to the city! :)
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About the Author
Daniel Draskóczy
Co- Founder, Tour Guide
Szia! :) My name is Daniel and I've been a tour guide for 7 years. I hold degrees in history and international relations. After living in 3 countries and guiding in 19, I decided to settle down and focus on Budapest. I'm a proud husband and a father. Besides guiding I coordinate a European education program and I write a blog.
I aim to show you the real Budapest: from history and cultural background to the everyday lives of people: the good, the bad - and if you want to hear - the ugly. Get ready for an honest, in-depth experience of Budapest!
My hobbies include reading, movies, writing about self-improvement and travelling.