Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
factories which may have been the origin of the name Tabán (from
tabahane
, the Turkish for
“armoury”). Thankfully, the slum-clearance and motorway building spared Tabán's historic
Turkish baths, and its traditions of lusty nightlife are kept alive by summertime concerts in
the park.
The Rudas Baths and drinking hall
Rudas Gyógyfürdő • I, Döbrentei tér 9 • Daily 6am-8pm, plus Fri & Sat night swimming 10pm-4am • 1 356
1010,
rudasfurdo.hu
• See
Rudas Gyógyfürdő
for more details; Rudas Ivócsarnok (drinking hall) • Mon, Wed
& Fri 11am-6pm, Tues & Thurs 7am-2pm
The relaxing and curative effects of Buda's
mineral springs
have been appreciated for two
thousand years, though it was the Turks who consolidated the habit of bathing and built
proper bathhouses which function to this day. The
Rudas Baths
, in the shadow of Gellért-
hegy, harbour a fantastic octagonal pool constructed in 1556 on the orders of Pasha Sokoli
Mustapha. Bathers wallow amid shafts of light pouring in from the star-shaped apertures in
the domed ceiling, surrounded by stone pillars with iron tie-beams and a nest of smaller pools
for parboiling oneself or cooling down.
A short walk north of the Rudas Baths, by the grubby underpass beneath the road leading to
the bridge, the
Drinking Hall
sells inexpensive mineral water from three nearby springs by
the tumbler. Regular imbibers bring bottles or jerrycans to fill.
Statue of Empress Elizabeth
In the island of grass amid the swirl of roads leading to the Buda end of the bridge is a seated
statue of Empress Elizabeth
(1837-98), after whom the Erzsébet híd (Elizabeth Bridge) is
named. The Austrian empress - she was also the Queen of Hungary - endeared herself to
Hungarians by learning their language and refusing to be stifled by her crusty husband, Franz
Josef. For more on the empress, see
Sisi, the friend of Hungary
.
The Rác Baths
Retaining an octagonal stone pool from Turkish times, the
Rác Baths
(Rác Gyógyfürdő) are
tucked away beneath Hegyalja út, which leads uphill away from the bridgehead of the Erz-
sébet híd.Atthetime ofwriting, however,thebathsremained closed pendingredevelopment,
though this has been going on for years. A cuboid
memorial stone
outside commemorates
the 51st Esperanto Congress held in Budapest in 1966 - an event that would have been in-
conceivable in Stalin's day, when Esperanto was forbidden for conflicting with his thesis that
the time for an international language had yet to come.
The Semmelweis Medical Museum
Semmelweis Orvostörténeti Múzeum • I, Apród utca 1-3 • Tues-Sun: mid-March to Oct 10.30am-6pm; Nov to
mid-March 10.30am-4pm • 700Ft • 1 375 3533,
semmelweis.museum.hu
Often overlooked by tourists, the
SemmelweisMedicalMuseum
contains a fascinating col-
lection of artefacts relating to the history of medicine, with mummified limbs from ancient
