A tale of 3 cities

We spent most of today outside both Buda and Pest. For a change, we went to Óbuda, the third city which joined together in 1873 to form Budapest.

Óbuda means “old Buda”, although civilisation here significantly predates what is now Buda. First settled in the Stone Age, the Romans later built the city of Aquincum here in the AD 40s. The Hungarians arrived 850 years later, before King Béla IV built a new capital (Buda) further south in the 1240s, after a catastrophic invasion by the Mongols.

Our initial destination in Óbuda was to take a bath with some new Hungarian friends at Szt. Lukács gyógyfürdő, the St Luke’s Thermal Baths. Budapest’s thermal baths owe much to their Roman and Ottoman predecessors. Thermal baths using the natural hot spring water have been located here since the 12th century, and the Ottomans had a powder mill here that was powered by the hot spring. In 1880, Budapest’s first spa hotel was opened here and is now the oldest continually operating thermal bath in the city. Part of a wall inside the complex dates back to the Ottoman powder mill. Other thermal baths in the city are particularly touristy but the Lukács baths are mostly frequented by locals plus of course some visitors like us.

It was a little odd to take a bath in public but, after getting changed, we headed to the thermal baths. As well as other pools for swimming, there are 3 thermal pools, respectively maintained at 32 °C, 36 °C and 40 °C plus a steam room (at 50°C) and a cooling pool at 24 °C. We tried all of the above, taking careful note of the recommended maximum times to stay in each pool before getting out. After the warmer pools and steam room, the cooler pool felt freezing and we quickly retreated to one of the warmer pools!

You’ll be relieved to hear there are no photos beyond the entrance and gardens, although you can see pictures of the various thermal baths on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lukács_Baths#Faci…

Once dry and suitably relaxed, we found sandwiches at a bakery, and then went in search of a further dose of Ottoman culture in the form of the nearby Tomb of Gül Baba, a warrior Muslim monk, who arrived in Buda with the invading Turkish army in 1541.

According to legend, he died during a service to celebrate the capture of the city in what is now the Matthias Church (on Castle Hill, Buda) which had then been converted into a mosque. His funeral was said to be attended by no less than Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman ruler.

After a quick look around the cultural centre and museum to discover something of Budapest during the Ottoman occupation, and a chance to admire the panoramic views from the terrace outside, we returned to a nearby tram stop, ready for our next adventure…Read more