FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2023-189 DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (November 17, 2023) – Today’s edition of Fun with Maps gives us a view of a land shared by many over the centuries.  

United We Stand

Celts, Romans, Avars, Huns, Magyars, Mongols, Turks, Austrians.

What do they have in common?  They all occupied at least part of this modern city at a point in time in the past 2,000 plus years.

Today the Magyars call it their capital, Budapest.

The hilly Buda, with its castle and economic powerhouse Pest on the plains united into one city, Budapest, on November 17, 1873 – 150 years ago.

Hungary’s capital boasts the world’s oldest electrified underground rail system and is the most populous city on the Danube with nearly 2 million inhabitants.  The much-photographed Parliament building is the 3rd largest in the world.

Where do names come from?  Buda was Attila’s brother, of Hun fame, while the name Pest seems to have a more murky origin, but likely tracing to Roman times.

Braun and Hogenberg’s view of Vienna (upper frame) and Buda (lower frame) from 1575 are presented here.  They took poetic license with showing hills across the Danube from Buda… there are no hills on Pest side.  

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.