The Belgrade Main Railway Station ( Serbian : Железничка станица Београд Главна , romanized : Železnička stanica Beograd Glavna ) is a former train station in Belgrade , the capital of Serbia. It was built between 1882 and 1885 according to the designs of the architect Dragutin Milutinović , and it has the status of a сultural monument of great importance . Until the opening of the new Belgrade Center station (Prokop) in 2016, it was the city's main station, and the busiest in the country. In order to free up the space for the Belgrade Waterfront project, the station was closed on 1 July 2018, and repurposed to become a museum.
159-513: Passenger trains were gradually relocated to the new Prokop station during 2016 and 2017. Most national railway traffic was moved to the new station in December 2017, thus leaving only international trains and two trains to Novi Sad at the old station. The Main station operated until 30 June 2018, when the last train, international train 340 to Budapest , left the station at 21:40. International trains were relocated to Prokop and trains to Bar relocated to
318-510: A court lady of Queen Natalie, in 1900, his parents rejected the future queen as an improper and impossible choice. His parents had previously arranged a marriage to a suitable German Princess Alexandra Karoline of Schaumburg-Lippe , sister of the Queen of Württemberg , which never took place. After that, ex-king Milan resigned as army commander and left Serbia for the rest of his life; he died in Vienna
477-524: A Spanish diplomat. Some other diplomats also abandoned diplomatic protocol and rescued Jews. There are two monuments for Wallenberg, one for Carl Lutz and one for Giorgio Perlasca in Budapest. Following the capture of Hungary from Nazi Germany by the Red Army , Soviet military occupation ensued, which ended only in 1991. The Soviets exerted significant influence on Hungarian political affairs. In 1949, Hungary
636-564: A ball in Vienna , despite initial objections from both Muruzi and Manukbey families. They were second cousins, as her grandmother Nathalia (1812–1830) was sister of Milan's grandmother Smaranda Balș (1811–1886), whose Balș family , although noble , dubiously claimed descent from an old medieval House of Balšić . A delegation from Romania, which included members of the Romanian noble families Moruzi and Catargiu (Milan's maternal family to whom Natalia
795-564: A border town of Austria-Hungary at the time. The location of the future station building was chosen in 1881. It was a marshy bog called Ciganska bara ("Gypsy pond"). The bog was charted for the first time in an Austrian map from 1789. It was a marsh which covered a wide area stretching from the present-day Karađorđeva street to the mouth of the Topčiderska Reka into the Sava, across the northern tip of Ada Ciganlija . The marshy area covered
954-483: A cave where fires burned or a limekiln. The first settlement on the territory of Budapest was built by Celts before 1 AD. It was later occupied by the Romans . The Roman settlement – Aquincum – became the main city of Pannonia Inferior in 106 AD. At first it was a military settlement, and gradually the city rose around it, making it the focal point of the city's commercial life. Today this area corresponds to
1113-570: A church, the Inner City Parish Church (Budapest) . The minaret and Turkish entranceway were removed. The shape of the architecture is its only hint of exotic past—"two surviving prayer niches facing Mecca and an ecumenical symbol atop its cupola: a cross rising above the Turkish crescent moon". After 1686, the Baroque architecture designated the dominant style of art in catholic countries from
1272-686: A member of the Roman Catholic Church and a nun, converting from Serbian Orthodoxy. Queen Natalie spent the remaining years of her life in exile in France under the name Comtesse de Roudnik ( Countess of Rudnik ), which stood in her diplomatic passport , opting to officially hide her true identity. The last winter before she died in 1941, she spent with her friend, Jehanne Henriette Emilie Vivaux, née Piarron de Mondesir (1886-1966), niece of General Jean Frédéric Lucien Piarron de Mondésir in Lardy, Essonne ,
1431-508: A population of 3,303,786. It is a primate city , constituting 33% of the population of Hungary. The history of Budapest began when an early Celtic settlement transformed into the Roman town of Aquincum , the capital of Lower Pannonia . The Hungarians arrived in the territory in the late 9th century, but the area was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241–42. Re-established Buda became one of
1590-714: A pro-Austrian foreign policy which the Russian-born and slavophile Queen would not tolerate. These conflict developed into a public scandal when the Queen - accompanied by her child, the eleven-year-old Crown Prince Alexander - left Serbia and settled in the Russian Crimea in May 1887. Slavophile public in Russia honoured the Serbian Queen demonstratively. Rumours spread about a royal divorce in
1749-580: A railway system, especially for connecting it to the airport, the experts insisted on keeping the old station in at least a diminished capacity, but the city refused that, claiming that the investors from the United Arab Emirates, who are partners in the Belgrade Waterfront project, rejected any idea of a railway. Architect Bojan Kovačević, president of the Academy of Architecture of Serbia, labeled
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#17330859136551908-592: A rapid increase in the average temperature. The weather in late March and in April is often very agreeable during the day and fresh at night. Budapest's long summer – lasting from May until mid-September – is warm or very warm. Sudden heavy showers also occur, particularly in May and June. The autumn in Budapest (mid-September until late October) is characterised by little rain and long sunny days with moderate temperatures. Temperatures often turn abruptly colder in late October or early November. Mean annual precipitation in Budapest
2067-435: A specific architectural program and contents adapted to European technical achievements. It is designed in the style of academism, as a representative edifice, with a dynamic floor plan. The central classicist projection of the main entrance with the triangular tympanum dominates over the architectural composition. With its specific solutions, the building stands as proof of the technical and architectural development of Serbia in
2226-529: A transitional climate between a humid temperate climate ( Köppen : Cfa , Trewartha : Doak ), and a humid continental climate ( Köppen : Dfa , Trewartha : Dcao ), with warm to hot summers and chilly winters. Winter (November until early March) can be cold and the city receives little sunshine. Snowfall is fairly frequent in most years, and nighttime temperatures of −10 °C (14 °F) are not uncommon between mid-December and mid-February. The spring months (March and April) see variable conditions, with
2385-415: A wide range of styles and from distinct time periods, from the ancient times as Roman City of Aquincum in Óbuda (District III), which dates to around 89 AD, to the most modern Palace of Arts , the contemporary arts museum and concert hall. Most buildings in Budapest are relatively low: in the early 2010s there were around 100 buildings higher than 45 metres (148 ft). The number of high-rise buildings
2544-457: A year before the end of World War II , Budapest was partly destroyed by British and American air raids (first attack 4 April 1944 ). From 24 December 1944 to 13 February 1945, the city was besieged during the Battle of Budapest . Budapest sustained major damage caused by the attacking Soviet and Romanian troops and the defending German and Hungarian troops. More than 38,000 civilians died during
2703-663: A year later, in 1901. Even the relationship between Natalie and Alexander was broken up. Because the Queen Mother was a strong opponent of her son's marriage to Draga, Natalie was banished from Serbia by her son. King Alexander and his wife Draga were killed in 1903 during a military coup . This left Natalie the sole member of the Obrenović dynasty. She donated the inheritance to the University of Belgrade and various churches and monasteries around Serbia . The same year, Queen Natalie became
2862-520: Is a blend of several architectural styles, with a focus on Hungary's specialities. One of the leading Art Nouveau architects, Ödön Lechner (1845–1914), was inspired by Indian and Syrian architecture as well as traditional Hungarian decorative designs. One of his most beautiful buildings in Budapest is the Museum of Applied Arts . Another examples for Art Nouveau in Budapest is the Gresham Palace in front of
3021-519: Is a wedge with a 56 angle degree made in rusted iron that gradually becomes shiny, ending in an intersection to symbolize Hungarian forces that temporarily eradicated the Communist leadership. From the 1960s to the late 1980s Hungary was often satirically referred to as " the happiest barrack " within the Eastern bloc , and much of the wartime damage to the city was finally repaired. Work on Erzsébet Bridge ,
3180-718: Is also the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology , the European Police College and the first foreign office of the China Investment Promotion Agency . Over 40 colleges and universities are located in Budapest, including Eötvös Loránd University , Corvinus University , Semmelweis University , University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics . Opened in 1896,
3339-429: Is around 23.5 inches (596.9 mm). On average, there are 84 days with precipitation and 1988 hours of sunshine (of a possible 4383) each year. From March to October, average sunshine totals are roughly equal to those seen in northern Italy ( Venice ). The city lies on the boundary between Zone 6 and Zone 7 in terms of the hardiness zone . Weather Atlas (UV) Budapest has architecturally noteworthy buildings in
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#17330859136553498-466: Is devastating for the building of the railway station and that Belgrade is being transformed into Skopje . President of the Academy of Architecture of Serbia, Bojan Kovačević called the project "irritation" and a part of the city administration's "fifth year of spite towards the public and profession" and "logorrheic phase of the spatial auto-goals". He criticized the bidding process as fake and farcical and pointed that important Belgrade architects boycotted
3657-411: Is difficult to defend a plain. King Béla IV of Hungary , therefore, ordered the construction of reinforced stone walls around the towns and set his own royal palace on the top of the protecting hills of Buda. In 1361 it became the capital of Hungary. The cultural role of Buda was particularly significant during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus . The Italian Renaissance had a great influence on
3816-408: Is exhibited a steam locomotive, just in front of the building. The fully finished station became operational on 21 September 1885. At the time, the central section of the building was occupied by the offices of the station's personnel, telephone exchange , telegraph , cashier boxes, wardrobes and police offices. The left wing of the station was adapted into the royal waiting room, while the right one
3975-512: Is found. Various cultures converged in Hungary seemed to coalesce well with each other, as if all these different cultures and architecture styles are digested into Hungary's own way of cultural blend. A precedent to show the city's self-conscious is the top section of the city's main square, named as Szechenyi . When Turks came to the city, they built mosques here which was aggressively replaced with Gothic church of St. Bertalan. The rationale of reusing
4134-500: Is kept low by building legislation, which is aimed at preserving the historic cityscape and to meet the requirements of the World Heritage Site . Strong rules apply to the planning, authorisation and construction of high-rise buildings and consequently much of the inner city does not have any. Some planners would like see an easing of the rules for the construction of skyscrapers, and the possibility of building skyscrapers outside
4293-456: Is often used pars pro toto for the entire city in contemporary colloquial Hungarian, although it is also used to refer to all parts of the city east of the Danube. Conversely, Buda colloquially means all districts to the Danube's west—including the former Óbuda. The Danube islands—including Csepel , the city's XXI. district—are part of neither Buda nor Pest. All varieties of English pronounce
4452-649: Is the capital and most populous city of Hungary . It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second largest city on the Danube river. The city has an estimated population of 1,752,286 over a land area of about 525 square kilometres (203 square miles). Budapest, which is both a city and municipality , forms the centre of the Budapest metropolitan area , which has an area of 7,626 square kilometres (2,944 square miles) and
4611-670: The -s- as in the English word pest . The -u in Buda- is pronounced either /u/ like food (as in US : / ˈ b uː d ə p ɛ s t / ) or /ju/ like cue (as in UK : / ˌ b ( j ) uː d ə ˈ p ɛ s t , ˌ b ʊ d -, ˈ b ( j ) uː d ə p ɛ s t , ˈ b ʊ d -/ ). In Hungarian, the -s- is pronounced /ʃ/ as in wash ; in IPA: Hungarian: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt] . The origins of
4770-515: The Aromanian diaspora during the 19th century. In 1918, Austria-Hungary lost the war and collapsed; Hungary declared itself an independent republic ( Republic of Hungary ). In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon partitioned the country, and as a result, Hungary lost over two-thirds of its territory, and about two-thirds of its inhabitants, including 3.3 million out of 15 million ethnic Hungarians. In 1944,
4929-453: The Battle of Southern Buh , settled in the territory at the end of the 9th century displacing the founding Bulgarian settlers of the towns of Buda and Pest, and a century later officially founded the Kingdom of Hungary . Research places the probable residence of the Árpáds as an early place of central power near what became Budapest. The Tatar invasion in the 13th century quickly proved it
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5088-496: The Chain Bridge linking Buda with Pest was opened as the first permanent bridge across the Danube and in 1873 Buda and Pest were officially merged with the third part, Óbuda (Old Buda), thus creating the new metropolis of Budapest. The dynamic Pest grew into the country's administrative, political, economic, trade and cultural hub. Ethnic Hungarians overtook Germans in the second half of the 19th century due to mass migration from
5247-772: The Danube Promenade , both designed by architect Frigyes Feszl (1821–1884). Another noteworthy structure is the Budapest Western Railway Station , which was designed by August de Serres and built by the Eiffel Company of Paris in 1877. Art Nouveau came into fashion in Budapest by the exhibitions which were held in and around 1896 and organised in connection with the Hungarian Millennium celebrations. Art Nouveau in Hungary ( Szecesszió in Hungarian)
5406-609: The Gestapo and Nedić's special police to control passengers. The station was further damaged during the heavy Easter Bombing, conducted by the Allies in 1944. The building was reconstructed after the war, being fully finished in 1953. Two side towers, one of the main architectural and visual marks of the station in the direction of the Karađorđeva Street, weren't rebuilt but were completely demolished instead. The post-war reconstruction
5565-584: The Habsburgs began in the Hungarian capital in 1848 and was defeated one and a half years later, with the help of the Russian Empire. 1867 was the year of Reconciliation that brought about the birth of Austria-Hungary . This made Budapest the twin capital of a dual monarchy. It was this compromise which opened the second great phase of development in the history of Budapest , lasting until World War I . In 1849
5724-557: The Imperial Court of Russia . Before the marriage, there was a proposal from her second cousin, Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Obolensky , member of the Rurikid princely Obolensky family and also hopes that she would one day become wife of Prince Grigore Grisha Manukbey (1855-1902), her childhood friend who was enchanted with her. In the end, she married Prince Milan Obrenović IV of Serbia on 17 October 1875, whom she previously met at
5883-659: The Matthias Church , where much of the original material was used (originally built in Romanesque style in 1015). The next chapter in the history of human architecture is Renaissance architecture . One of the earliest places to be influenced by the Renaissance style of architecture was Hungary, and Budapest in particular. The style appeared following the marriage of King Matthias Corvinus and Beatrice of Naples in 1476. Many Italian artists, craftsmen and masons came to Buda with
6042-573: The Topčider railway station . At the 1878 Congress of Berlin the Principality of Serbia was de jure recognized as an independent state. The great powers of the day decided that Serbia should construct a railway. Not economically developed to begin with, Serbia was additionally pauperized after the Serbian-Ottoman wars from 1876 to 1878, so it lacked the necessary funds. Prince Milan Obrenović and
6201-561: The 14th century and No. 31 Úri Street, which has a Gothic façade that dates back to the 15th century. Other buildings with Gothic features are the Inner City Parish Church , built in the 12th century, and the Mary Magdalene Church, completed in the 15th century. The most characteristic Gothic-style buildings are actually Neo-Gothic , like the most well-known Budapest landmarks, the Hungarian Parliament Building and
6360-523: The 17th century to the 18th century. There are many Baroque-style buildings in Budapest and one of the finest examples of preserved Baroque-style architecture is the Church of St. Anna in Batthyhány square . An interesting part of Budapest is the less touristy Óbuda, the main square of which also has some beautiful preserved historic buildings with Baroque façades. The Castle District is another place to visit where
6519-521: The 1980s, the city's population reached 2.1 million. In recent times a significant decrease in population occurred mainly due to a massive movement to the neighbouring agglomeration in Pest county , i.e., suburbanisation. In the last decades of the 20th century the political changes of 1989–90 ( Fall of the Iron Curtain ) concealed changes in civil society and along the streets of Budapest. The monuments of
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6678-442: The 21st century, Budapest faces new challenges in its architecture. The pressure towards the high-rise buildings is unequivocal among today's world cities, but preserving Budapest's unique cityscape and its very diverse architecture, along with green areas, forces Budapest to balance between them. The Contemporary architecture has wide margin in the city. Public spaces attract heavy investment by business and government also, so that
6837-413: The 525 square kilometres (203 square miles) occupied by the city, 83 square kilometres (32 square miles) is green area, park and forest. The forests of Buda hills are environmentally protected. The city's importance in terms of traffic is very central, because many major European roads and European railway lines lead to Budapest. The Danube was and is still an important water-way and this region in
6996-534: The Budapest radio station and demanded to publish their demands. The regime ordered troops to shoot into the crowd. Hungarian soldiers gave rifles to the demonstrators who were now able to capture the building. This initiated the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 . The demonstrators demanded to appoint Imre Nagy to be Prime Minister of Hungary . To their surprise, the central committee of the " Hungarian Working People's Party " did so that same evening. This uprising
7155-587: The Chain Bridge, the Hotel Gellért , the Franz Liszt Academy of Music or Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden . It is one of the world's outstanding urban landscapes and illustrates the great periods in the history of the Hungarian capital. The second half of the 20th century also saw, under the communist regime, the construction of blocks of flats ( panelház ), as in other Eastern European countries. In
7314-552: The German attack on Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941. Immediately after entering Belgrade, Germans constructed an improvised stationary building next to the damaged building, on the location where the Tito's Blue Train was exhibited in 1980. This building was constructed by the Ukrainian émigré architect Pavel Krat. The modernist building was known for the narrow corridor which allowed for the agents of
7473-552: The Hungarian language is now called Budavár [Buda Castle] and by the Germans Etzelburg [Attila Castle] There are several theories about Pest. One states that the name derives from Roman times , since there was a local fortress ( Contra-Aquincum ) called by Ptolemy "Pession" ("Πέσσιον", iii.7.§ 2). Another has it that Pest originates in the Slavic word for cave, пещера , or peštera . A third cites пещ , or pešt , referencing
7632-657: The King managed to get his divorce by a single decision of the Metropolite of the Serbian church, the Queen rejected that decision in public and demanded a return to Belgrade. An immediate political consequence of these dynastic conflicts was the new right of succession to the throne proclaimed during the parliamentary sessions regarding the new constitution of Serbia . The new constitution declared Crown Prince Alexander and his future children (that were never born) to be single legal heirs of
7791-589: The King's approval the Queen and the Crown Prince left for another foreign travel to Italy until November. In 1888, Queen Natalie and her son left for another long foreign stay in Wiesbaden - obviously without intention to return to Belgrade. The public private scandal turned into politics when the King used the German police in July 1888 to bring the young Crown Prince back to his kingdom. Soon afterwards King Milan opened
7950-505: The National Assembly of Serbia, while for the railway itself it was said that it was both costly and unnecessary; a "devil's snake"; a "destroyer of the people", a threat to female fertility and a conduit of infiltration by foreign powers. The foundation stones were laid by prince Milan: for the railway on 3 July [ O.S. 21 June] 1881, for the station on 15 April [ O.S. 3 April] 1883. The building of
8109-483: The Post Office No. 6 was built instead. After the station was finished, the area to the east developed into the square which, due to its location close both to the railway and the port, served for the transshipment of the goods, especially the cereals and grains, so in time it was named Žitni trg ("Grains square"). It was also well connected with the roads which lead outside of the city. It was directly connected with
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#17330859136558268-586: The Pálvölgyi cave (total length 7,200 m or 23,600 ft) and the Szemlőhegyi cave (total length 2,200 m or 7,200 ft). The hills were formed in the Triassic Period. The highest point of the hills and of Budapest is János Hill , at 527 metres (1,729 feet) above sea level . The lowest point is the line of the Danube which is 96 metres (315 feet) above sea level. Budapest is also rich in green areas. Of
8427-448: The Sava Square, in February 2022 it was announced that it will be relocated behind the building, on the track No. 1. By October 2023 the locomotive was not removed and was left to the elements, deteriorating a lot. The building was declared a cultural monument in 1981, and a cultural monument of great importance in 1983. [REDACTED] Media related to Belgrade Main railway station at Wikimedia Commons Budapest Budapest
8586-510: The Serbian crown. Possible children of a second marriage of King Milan should be excluded from succession even in the case that King Alexander's line should become extinct. A clear votum of mistrust for the former king in the handling of his family affairs that foreshadowed his following abdication in March 1889. On 6 March 1889, as consequence of the surprising abdication of her (former) husband, Natalie's son Alexander I became King of Serbia. Until 1893, when Alexander assumed government himself, he
8745-425: The US president Woodrow Wilson and today in named Savski trg ("Sava Square"). In 1924 the station was connected to Požarevac , and further with eastern Serbia, while in 1928 it was connected to Obrenovac and Sarajevo . Soon after, direct connection was established with Dubrovnik and Zelenika ( Herceg Novi ). The building was damaged during World War II . It was hit during the bombing of Belgrade , part of
8904-429: The V. district is in the very center of Pest and inaugurates a new circle that then loops back through Pest to Buda as the VI., VII., VIII., IX., XI., and XII. districts. Districts XIII., XIV., XV., XVI., XVII., XVIII., XIX., XX., XXI., and XXII. form yet another semicircle in outermost Pest. Districts X. and XXIII. form irregularities within the overall pattern. Budapest is the most populous city in Hungary and one of
9063-421: The agglomeration in Pest county. The capital extends 25 and 29 km (16 and 18 mi) in the north–south, east–west direction respectively. The Danube enters the city from the north; later it encircles two islands, Óbuda Island and Margaret Island . The third island Csepel Island is the largest of the Budapest Danube islands, however only its northernmost tip is within city limits. The river that separates
9222-410: The already chosen Russian sculpture. Maldini stated that the competition is a result of the greed and incompetence and described the project as "unacceptable concreting without ideas" and the sculpture as pricey and megalomaniacal. Reconstruction of the station's façade was announced to start in September 2019. The job was given to the "Koto" company, which is involved in another controversial project of
9381-432: The auto trains, nor was ever planned to have one. Still, in January 2018 it was announced that the station will be completely closed for traffic on 1 July 2018, even though none of the projects needed for a complete removal of the railway traffic are finished. The Prokop is incomplete, a projected main goods station in Zemun is not being adapted at all while there is even no project on Belgrade railway beltway. After closing,
9540-422: The base of the former Islamic building mosque and reconstruction into Gothic Church but Islamic style architecture over it is typically Islamic are still visible. An official term for the rationale is spolia . The mosque was called the djami of Pasha Gazi Kassim, and djami means mosque in Arabic. After Turks and Muslims were expelled and massacred from Budapest, the site was reoccupied by Christians and reformed into
9699-425: The best examples are the Hungarian National Museum , the Lutheran Church of Budavár (both designed by Pollack) and the seat of the Hungarian president , the Sándor Palace . The most iconic and widely known Classicist-style attraction in Budapest is the Széchenyi Chain Bridge . Budapest's two most beautiful Romantic architecture buildings are the Great Synagogue in Dohány Street and the Vigadó Concert Hall on
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#17330859136559858-405: The best-known landmark Buda Royal Palace and many other buildings were built in the Baroque style. The Classical architecture and Neoclassical architecture are the next in the timeline. Budapest had not one but two architects that were masters of the Classicist style. Mihály Pollack (1773–1855) and József Hild (1789–1867), built many beautiful Classicist-style buildings in the city. Some of
10017-402: The bidding, adding that we "used to laugh at Skopje". Architect Slobodan Maldini pointed to the inadequacies of the competition, including the composition and competency of the jury and a fact that the name of the winner leaked 8 days before it was officially announced. Spanish work is formally flawed as it has no documentation needed, the monument is different in appearance, size and location from
10176-419: The bog to make roof tiles. They lived in small huts or caravans (called "čerge"), between the high grass and rush , with their horses and water buffalos grazing freely in the area. As most of the huts were actually stilt houses built on piles due to the marshy land, the area was gradually named Bara Venecija (" Venice pond"). As such, the location was absolutely inappropriate for any construction work and
10335-403: The building was removed from the possession of the state railway company and became directly administered by the state. The overhaul of the building was planned to start in the autumn of 2018 and to be finished in February 2020. The renovation includes the reconstruction of the façade and new decorative lights. The venue will then be transformed into the museum. The railway company wanted it to be
10494-782: The centre of the Pannonian Basin , lies on an ancient route linking the hills of Transdanubia with the Great Plain. By road it is 216 kilometres (134 mi) south-east of Vienna , 545 kilometres (339 mi) south of Warsaw , 1,565 kilometres (972 mi) south-west of Moscow, 1,122 kilometres (697 mi) north of Athens , 1,235 kilometres (767 mi) north-east of Rome , 788 kilometres (490 mi) north-east of Milan , 443 kilometres (275 mi) south-east of Prague , 343 kilometres (213 mi) north-east of Zagreb , 748 kilometres (465 mi) north-east of Split and 1,329 kilometres (826 mi) north-west of Istanbul . The 525 square kilometres (203 sq mi) area of Budapest lies in Central Hungary , surrounded by settlements of
10653-521: The centre of the Carpathian Basin lies at the cross-roads of trade routes . Budapest is one of only three capital cities in the world which has thermal springs (the others being Reykjavík in Iceland and Sofia in Bulgaria ). Some 125 springs produce 70 million litres (15,000,000 imperial gallons; 18,000,000 US gallons) of thermal water a day, with temperatures ranging up to 58 Celsius. Some of these waters have been claimed to have medicinal effects due to their high mineral contents. Budapest has
10812-422: The centres of Renaissance humanist culture by the 15th century. The Battle of Mohács , in 1526, was followed by nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule. After the reconquest of Buda in 1686, the region entered a new age of prosperity, with Pest-Buda becoming a global city after the unification of Buda, Óbuda and Pest on 17 November 1873, with the name 'Budapest' given to the new capital. Budapest also became
10971-431: The city administration that the railway prevents the city from being able to "come out on the river banks" as the removal only of the tracks which are not in use will do the trick. The station will be of major importance for the future Belgrade Metro and that Prokop in functional terms is not a station at all; with the closing of the Main station, central Belgrade would not have a proper railway station. Vučić concluded that
11130-468: The city center in its broadest sense, corresponding roughly to the 1873 municipal boundaries. Budapest's districts are numbered according to three concentric semicircles. The I. district is a small area in central Buda, including the Castle Quarter . District II. is in Buda to the castle's northwest while district III. stretches along the northernmost part of Buda and includes the former Óbuda. District IV. continues this semicircle in northernmost Pest, but
11289-450: The city government, the Kalemegdan gondola lift . Though the price is much higher than 5 million dinars (€42,500; estimated to 240 million dinars, or €2,035,000), which means that public bidding is obligatory by law, the government gave the project in direct negotiations with the company, citing "hastiness due to the weather issues". Government and city institutions connected with the reconstruction remained silent on any further explanation of
11448-585: The city has gained entirely new (or renovated and redesigned) squares, parks and monuments, for example the city central Kossuth Lajos square , Deák Ferenc square and Liberty Square . Numerous landmarks have been created in the last decade in Budapest, like the National Theatre , Palace of Arts, Rákóczi Bridge , Megyeri Bridge , Budapest Airport Sky Court among others, and millions of square meters of new office buildings and apartments . But there are still large opportunities in real estate development in
11607-574: The city of Sicambria in Pannonia, where he killed Buda , his brother, and he threw his corpse into the Danube . For while Attila was in the west, his brother crossed the boundaries in his reign, because he named Sicambria after his own name Buda's Castle. And though King Attila forbade the Huns and the other peoples to call that city Buda's Castle, but he called it Attila's Capital, the Germans who were terrified by
11766-606: The city's historic core has been raised. In the chronological order of architectural styles Budapest is represented on the entire timeline, starting with the Roman City of Aquincum representing ancient architecture . The next determinative style is the Gothic architecture in Budapest. The few remaining Gothic buildings can be found in the Castle District. Buildings of note are no. 18, 20 and 22 on Országház Street, which date back to
11925-719: The city's subway system, the Budapest Metro , serves 1.27 million, while the Budapest Tram Network serves 1.08 million passengers daily. The central area of Budapest along the Danube River is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has several notable monuments of classical architecture , including the Hungarian Parliament and the Buda Castle . The city also has around 80 geothermal springs ,
12084-608: The city. Contemporary Budapest is divided into 23 districts (Hungarian: kerületek , sg. : kerület ), each with a mayor and municipal government elected separately from the general municipal government. The districts and the general municipal government have constitutionally and legally defined, non-overlapping areas of competence. Each district has a municipally recognized name, some of which correspond to how locals call that area or neighborhood (e.g., Belváros , V. district; Terézváros , VI. district), others which (e.g., Újbuda , XI. district) are neologisms. Street signs display
12243-582: The city. His library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana , was Europe's greatest collection of historical chronicles and philosophic and scientific works in the 15th century, and second in size only to the Vatican Library . After the foundation of the first Hungarian university in Pécs in 1367 ( University of Pécs ), the second one was established in Óbuda in 1395 ( University of Óbuda ). The first Hungarian book
12402-453: The city. These were great examples of Ottoman architecture , which was influenced by Muslims from around the world including Turkish, Iranian, Arabian and to a larger extent, Byzantine architecture as well as Islamic traditions. After the Holy League conquered Budapest, they replaced most of the mosques with churches and minarets were turned into bell towers and cathedral spires. At one point
12561-512: The co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire , a great power that dissolved in 1918, following World War I . The city was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and the Battle of Budapest in 1945, as well as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 . Budapest is a global city with strengths in commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. Hungary's financial centre , Budapest
12720-538: The conflict. All bridges were destroyed by the Germans. The stone lions that have decorated the Chain Bridge since 1852 survived the devastation of the war. Between 20% and 40% of Greater Budapest's 250,000 Jewish inhabitants died through Nazi and Arrow Cross Party , during the German occupation of Hungary , from 1944 to early 1945. Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz rescued tens of thousands of Jews by issuing Swiss protection papers and designating numerous buildings, including
12879-410: The considerably larger Pest spreads out on a flat and featureless sand plain on the river's opposite bank. Pest's terrain rises with a slight eastward gradient, so the easternmost parts of the city lie at the same altitude as Buda's smallest hills, notably Gellért Hill and Castle Hill. The Buda hills consist mainly of limestone and dolomite, the water created speleothems , the most famous ones being
13038-440: The dictatorship were removed from public places, into Memento Park . In the first 20 years of the new democracy, the development of the city was managed by its mayor, Gábor Demszky . In October 2019, opposition candidate Gergely Karácsony won the Budapest mayoral election , meaning the first electoral blow for Hungary's nationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán since coming to power in 2010. Budapest, strategically placed at
13197-456: The distinct sloping central square in Budapest became a bustling Oriental bazaar, which was filled with "the chatter of camel caravans on their way to Yemen and India". Budapest is in fact one of the few places in the world with functioning original Turkish bathhouses dating back to the 16th century, like Rudas Baths or Király Baths . Budapest is home to the northernmost place where the tomb of influential Islamic Turkish Sufi Dervish, Gül Baba
13356-517: The district and that neighborhood's colloquial name. The latter are often the names of villages that were gradually annexed to the city (e.g., Sashalom , Budafok ) or of superseded administrative units of former boroughs. After the unification of Buda, Pest, and Óbuda in 1873, Budapest initially had 10 districts. It was during the interwar period that Károly Szendy 's 1934-1944 mayoral administration first seriously considered annexing peripheral towns and villages. This only came about, however, after
13515-517: The dump, too. Both the new museum administration and the Ministry of Culture claim to have pleaded with the government for months to solve the problem, but to no avail. In September 2022, city communal services cleaned the inside of the building and the area adjoining the building but left the piles of garbage on the former platforms and tracks, claiming it is on the land of Belgrade Waterfront. The authorities blamed homeless people and migrants for creating
13674-472: The dump. The Belgrade Waterfront company started to remove the garbage in October 2022. Only a smaller quantity of the garbage was removed, leaving large piles. By November 2022, the interior was damaged by fires, presumably lit by the homeless and migrants, as the building is basically left to the elements. At this time, it was announced that the funding for the reconstruction was secured. The complete removal of
13833-552: The ecclesiastical procedures of divorce. Even the development of these procedures put a shadow on the royal reputation. The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church met in Belgrade and declared itself incompetent in the royal divorce. When the consistorium of Belgrade took over the case the Queen rejected the King's wish for divorce and advocated the several attempts to reconcile the couple according to ecclesiastical law. When
13992-521: The ex-king and the regents allowed meetings between mother and son every 14 days - but strictly outside the royal palace. In July 1890, the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox church declared the divorce between Milan and Natalie to be legal. In April 1891, ex-king Milan - after several interferences in government affairs - announced his intention to leave Serbia until his son should be old enough to take over
14151-515: The exiled royals Milan and Natalija reconciled and asked the Serbian government to revoke their divorce. The Metropolite and the synod declared the divorce act of 1888 illegal and the royal marriage still in force in March 1893. Shortly afterwards their son King Alexander declared himself mature and deposed the regency council in April 1893. After ex-king Milan had returned to Serbia in January 1894 and took
14310-578: The exterior clock to stop working. All three exterior clocks (main entrance, side entrance, inner platform entrance) were then removed in August 2021, and their analog mechanisms were replaced with digital ones. The hands of the face clocks were replaced with lighter ones, while the GPS antenna and solar panels have been placed above the main entrance. The Minister for Culture, Maja Gojković , announced in February 2022 that
14469-409: The future development the envisioned urban tissue was effectively "cut" in its Savamala section by the new projects, and almost nothing of the planned has done. According to the city's general urban plan (GUP) in the 1960s, Cvetni Trg was envisioned as the location of the future central underground subway station of Belgrade , which would also replace the main railway station. The tunnels would conduct
14628-555: The government announced a request for tender and the bidding was won by a French company. According to a popular - but unproven - version of events, Prince Milan accepted a bribe of 1 million francs in gold to give the job to the French. The concession included the construction of the Belgrade–Niš railway , the train bridge over the Sava river and a railway that would connect Belgrade to Zemun ,
14787-495: The hastiness in pushing the Belgrade Waterfront agenda - like the closing of the Main Railway Station even though the new railway facilities weren't finished - as the "raping" of Belgrade. Smaller protests against the shut down were organized in the final period, including the day of the closing. The building is constructed in the fashion of railway stations of major European countries and is a monumental edifice. The project
14946-474: The illogicalities regarding the reconstruction: if the building was already left as it is for over a year, why the sudden hastiness; if the weather is a problem, why are the works pushed for the upcoming, winter season; lack of the public invitation to tender; who is really financing the works - the city, the government or the Belgrade Waterfront; if this was planned for several years, why are funds secured via budget reserves and not allocated previously. The deadline
15105-488: The interests of investors take precedence over those of commuters. He also maintains that the isolation of the new station's location will cause a further decrease in the number of railway passengers. Another member of the Academy, transportation engineer Dušan Teodorović, also criticized the project. Nenad Kecman, executive manager of the Serbian Railways , stated that none of the objections or suggestions by experts from
15264-438: The largest cities in the European Union , with a growing number of inhabitants, estimated at 1,763,913 in 2019, whereby inward migration exceeds outward migration. These trends are also seen throughout the Budapest metropolitan area , which is home to 3.3 million people. This amounts to about 34% of Hungary's population. In 2014, the city had a population density of 3,314 people/km (8,580 people/sq mi), rendering it
15423-519: The largest thermal water cave system, second largest synagogue , and third largest Parliament building in the world. Budapest attracts around 12 million international tourists per year, making it a highly popular destination in Europe. The previously separate cities of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest were officially unified in 1873 and given the new name Budapest . Before this, the towns together had sometimes been referred to colloquially as "Pest-Buda". Pest
15582-507: The last decades of the 19th century. On 10 April 1984, a Tito's Blue Train steam locomotive (1947-1978) was put on open display next to the railway station entrance. It was produced in 1947 in the " MÁVAG " factory in Budapest and was declared a memorial under the administration of the Railway Museum as the only one of its kind in Serbia. With all the changes regarding the station building and
15741-621: The last to be rebuilt, was finished in 1964. In the early 1970s, Budapest Metro 's east–west M2 line was first opened, followed by the M3 line in 1976. In 1987, Buda Castle and the banks of the Danube were included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites . Andrássy Avenue (including the Millennium Underground Railway , Hősök tere , and Városliget ) was added to the UNESCO list in 2002. In
15900-405: The location was chosen, it was also disconnected from Belgrade in terms of transportation. The former village of Savamala was closest, but the city could only be reached using a fiaker , and this along a bypass route leading through Spomenička Street (modern Nemanjina). The construction of the railway and station initially met with fierce opposition. The law on railway construction barely passed in
16059-461: The main station, on 3 April 1903. The first ice rink in Belgrade was built near the station in 1900. The building originally had a gas lighting, which was later replaced with the electrical one. As it was a major consumer, it was decided that the building will have its own power generator. A mini electrical plant was built next to the station building in 1909 and demolished in 1929, when the building of
16218-404: The marsh had to be filled first. The remains of the demolished Stambol Gate in 1866 also finished in the bog. By 1884 the bog was drained and buried under the rubble from all parts of the city but especially from Prokop , Prokop is located in the eastern section of the former neighborhood of Jatagan Mala . Previously, it was a geographical reference, as the area was located in the lower valley of
16377-583: The most densely populated of all municipalities in Hungary. The population density of Elisabethtown-District VII is 30,989/km (80,260/sq mi), which has the highest population density figure in Hungary and one of the highest in the world . For comparison, the density in Manhattan is 25,846/km . Natalie of Serbia Natalija Obrenović ( Serbian Cyrillic : Наталија Обреновић ; 15 May 1859 – 8 May 1941), née Keshko ( Romanian : Natalia Cheșcu ; Russian : Наталья Кешко ), known as Natalie of Serbia ,
16536-476: The most renowned and mighty King Attila descended, who, in the 451st year of Our Lord's birth, coming down from Scythia , entered Pannonia with a mighty force and, putting the Romans to flight, took the realm and made a royal residence for himself beside the Danube above the hot springs, and he ordered all the old buildings that he found there to be restored and he built them in a circular and very strong wall that in
16695-716: The museum of the railway, but the government rejected the proposal straightaway, announcing the transformation into the Museum of Medieval Serbia or the Historical Museum. In February 2020 it was confirmed that the Nikola Tesla Museum will be relocated here from Krunski Venac , instead of the previously planned location of the Old Power Plant in Dorćol . A few days later, the government stated that they actually didn't decide where
16854-466: The museum will be relocated and that it may be some completely different location. City later stated that the building will host the Museum of Nikola Tesla after all, but in September 2020 president Aleksandar Vučić said that the Museum of Medieval Serbia will be formed instead. Project Belgrade Waterfront envisioned a complete change of the square area in front of the building. The plans are to turn it into
17013-494: The names "Buda" and "Pest" are obscure. Buda was Linguistically, however, a German origin through the Slavic derivative вода ( voda , water) is not possible, and there is no certainty that a Turkic word really comes from the word buta ~ buda 'branch, twig'. According to a legend recorded in chronicles from the Middle Ages , "Buda" comes from the name of its founder, Bleda , brother of Hunnic ruler Attila . Attila went in
17172-414: The near future, and there was public talk about the King's abdication in favour of his son. These rumours proved to be premature - the divorce occurred one year later, the abdication followed in 1889. In July 1887, the Queen and her son returned to Belgrade , in August the Queen left her country again for Austria-Hungary . In October, the King and Queen met in Budapest for a formal reconciliation, and with
17331-427: The neighborhood of Smutekovac . Among his many reasons he cited the quality of the earth and the fact that the proximity of the construction site would reduce the transportation costs. However, that land belonged to his wife, Princess Natalie , so the prince even earned money from the station's construction. In a historical twist, Prokop is the location of Belgrade's designated present-day central railway station. When
17490-482: The new Belgrade railway junction was continued, and plans for dislocating main station to "Belgrade Center", colloquially called Prokop, became realistic. A 1959 plan envisioned urban axis Belgrade Main Railway Station- SIV Building ( New Belgrade ) as the baseline for the future development of both old and new parts of Belgrade. The area between these two points, described as "two basal foundations",
17649-483: The new queen. Today, many of the original renaissance buildings disappeared during the varied history of Buda, but Budapest is still rich in renaissance and neo-renaissance buildings, like the famous Hungarian State Opera House , St. Stephen's Basilica and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences . During the Turkish occupation (1541–1686), Islamic culture flourished in Budapest; multiple mosques and baths were built in
17808-401: The new station, he asserted that the old, Main station is better suited for the railway traffic and that it should be kept. Main station is interconnected through the public transportation lines with almost all parts of Belgrade, and only 6 tram lines go to 11 parts of the city. The location is much better and, as Belgrade grew around it, most urban life unfolds around it. He disputed the claim of
17967-503: The next few years, all of the former Hungarian lands, except areas near Temesvár ( Timișoara ), were taken from the Turks. In the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz , these territorial changes were officially recognized as the end of the rule of the Turks, and in 1718 the entire Kingdom of Hungary was removed from Ottoman rule . The 19th century was dominated by the Hungarian struggle for independence and modernisation. The national insurrection against
18126-638: The now famous Glass House (Üvegház) at Vadász Street 29, to be Swiss protected territory. About 3,000 Hungarian Jews found refuge at the Glass House and in a neighboring building. Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest by giving them Swedish protection papers and taking them under his consular protection. Wallenberg was abducted by the Russians on 17 January 1945 and never regained freedom. Giorgio Perlasca , an Italian citizen, saved thousands of Hungarian Jews posing as
18285-555: The now-underground stream of Mokroluški Potok . Earth and gravel were dug and used to cover and drain the swamps on the right bank of the Sava, so that the neighborhoods of Savamala and Bara Venecija could be constructed, along with the building of central railway station. After the works were completed, the area around Mokroluški Potok was left as a steep, elongated cut in the ground, thus acquiring its name (Serbian prokop , cut or dug through). Prince Milan personally suggested this area, which stretched above Đorđe Vajfert 's brewery and
18444-751: The number of Christians was down to about a thousand, and by 1647 it had fallen to only about seventy. The unoccupied western part of the country became part of the Habsburg monarchy as Royal Hungary . In 1686, two years after the unsuccessful siege of Buda , a renewed campaign was started to enter Buda. This time, the Holy League 's army was twice as large, containing over 74,000 men, including German , Croat , Dutch , Hungarian, English, Spanish, Czech , Italian, French, Burgundian , Danish and Swedish soldiers, along with other Europeans as volunteers, artillerymen , and officers. The Christian forces seized Buda, and in
18603-620: The opening ceremony. Military orchestra played music all the way until the train crossed the bridge. Three days later the station was again decorated with flags and flowers as the railway to Niš was open and the first, promotional composition towards Niš departed. Cannons from the Belgrade Fortress marked the occasion while the military orchestras played marches. The journal Novi beogradski dnevnik wrote: "Young and old, rich and poor, pretty and ugly, they all gathered in Bara Venecija to see
18762-477: The overpopulated rural Transdanubia and Great Hungarian Plain . Between 1851 and 1910 the proportion of Hungarians increased from 35.6% to 85.9%, Hungarian became the dominant language, and German was crowded out. The proportion of Jews peaked in 1900 with 23.6%. Due to the prosperity and the large Jewish community of the city at the start of the 20th century, Budapest was often called the "Jewish Mecca" or "Judapest". Budapest also became an important center for
18921-440: The plateau with a large monument to Stefan Nemanja in front of the former railway station, facing Nemanjina Street, named after him. The existing street routes will be turned into the semi-circular crossroad and the traffic will be relocated to the edge of the square. The existing roundabout of the public transportation and a memorial for the 1990-1999 war victims, placed in the 2000s, will be relocated. The existing buildings around
19080-433: The position as deputy of his son and commander-in-chief of the army, King Alexander ordered the complete rehabilitation of his parents and the restoration of their royal prerogatives in April 1894 - despite the protests of the radical opposition. Natalie, who lived mainly in France, returned to Belgrade not before May 1895 but kept her habit of frequent foreign travels. When King Alexander affianced himself with Draga Mašin ,
19239-496: The prohibition named the city as Eccylburg, which means Attila Castle, however, the Hungarians did not care about the ban and call it Óbuda [Old Buda] and call it to this day. The Scythians are certainly an ancient people and the strength of Scythia lies in the east, as we said above. And the first king of Scythia was Magog, son of Japhet, and his people were called Magyars [Hungarians] after their King Magog, from whose royal line
19398-427: The railway traffic and the total shut down of the station, planned for 1 July 2018, has been met with the opposition from experts and the public, especially the notion that it has been hastily done because of the controversial Belgrade Waterfront project, while some openly doubt that the investors from the United Arab Emirates really asked for this to happen and that it is all part of a "special story". As of June 2018, it
19557-520: The railway transportation branch were adopted by the city administration. The new system will marginalize railway transportation, he added, claiming that the professionals are against both the closing of the station, as the entire city gravitates to it, and the planned demolition or adaptation into a pedestrian bridge of the Old Railway Bridge . Saying that such a luxurious complex like the planned Belgrade Waterfront cannot function without some kind of
19716-531: The reconstruction of the building would start in July 2022, and would be finished in November 2023. By July 2022, the inner yard where the former platforms were, was littered with garbage, resembling a dump. Derelict, partially flooded, and covered in overgrowth and waste, former station was labeled the Belgrade's "greatest abomination and shame". The garbage continued to pile up, including in the building itself. The smell became unbearable as dead animals were also left at
19875-821: The rise of state communism in Hungary . In 1950, for reasons of social and industrial policy—including the Hungarian Working People's Party 's desire to proletarianize the traditionally right-wing suburbs—7 cities with county rights and 16 towns were annexed to the capital to form contemporary Greater Budapest (Hungarian: Nagy-Budapest ). This reorganized the city into 22 districts, a number that grew to 23 after Soroksár seceded from Pesterzsébet in 1994. The contemporary city thus consists of 6 districts in Buda, 16 in Pest, and Csepel . Today, districts I., II., XI., and XII. in Buda and V., VI., VII., VIII., and IX. in Pest make up
20034-556: The road which is today the Savska Street in the direction of the Mostar neighborhood. There, it was splitting in two directions, one to the east (later neighborhoods of Jatagan Mala and Prokop ) in the direction of Kragujevac in central Serbia, and the other to the south (neighborhoods of Senjak , Čukarica , Žarkovo ) and further to the west Serbia. The square was renamed Vilsonov trg ("Wilson's Square") after World War I, in honor of
20193-414: The royal coat of arms immediately after taking over after World War II. The stone lions and the cartouche , the decorative round shield around them, were removed later and disappeared after a while. The late 2010s plans for the reconstruction include the restoration of the coat of arms, but none of the other destroyed or removed parts of the building. The coat of arms composition on the tympanum ( fronton )
20352-489: The royal palace in Belgrade. She demanded to see her son every Sunday and holiday, but was offered to see him twice a year instead with King Milan regulating. When the Queen Mother arrived in Belgrade on 29 August 1889, she was enthusiastically welcomed by the population. But the regency denied her royal style (she should be announced just as Mme Keshko) and - after she insisted to be still the ex-king's wife and rightful Queen of Serbia - any meeting with her son. In October 1889
20511-411: The rule. The parliament instructed the government to ask Queen Mother Natalie to act accordingly. When the Queen refused to leave the country, the police attempted to expel her by force on 18 May 1891 but a crowd of civilians fought the police and the military, resulting in two being killed and several wounded. The next day the whole force of the garrison was used to send her into exile. In January 1893,
20670-431: The same day, the line to Pest was established, and at the beginning only two trains a day departed on these lines. Archbishop of Belgrade and Metropolitan of Serbia, Teodosije Mraović, blessed the two first locomotives. The regular traffic was established 10 days later. Until the station was finished, a small building in front of it functioned as a temporary facility (ticket booths, administration, etc.). On that spot, today
20829-408: The square will be kept, but some will change their purpose. The size and the design of the monument to Stefan Nemanja provoked public and artistic criticism. Historian Predrag J. Marković called it the continuation of almost two decades long " Arkanization of the monumental skyline" in Belgrade, while rector of the University of Arts in Belgrade , Mileta Prodanović, said that the proposed project
20988-425: The start of the first Serbian railway". The first train departed at 8:45, with 100 passengers in nine cars with three classes. Just to accommodate the huge crowds of journalists and cheering citizens, another train departed just five minutes later. The first passenger line started on 16 September [ O.S. 4 September] 1884 at 8:30. It was a line to Niš, and the train had 20 cars with 200 passengers. On
21147-486: The station lagged behind the construction of the railway and the bridge, so when the time came for the first train to pass through Belgrade, the object wasn't finished. As it was obvious that the station won't be finished on time, the temporary object was built to serve the purpose instead. Even though at one point in 1884 it was recorded that 5,575 workers were employed on the building's construction, it couldn't be finished in time. It had to be ceremonially open, even though it
21306-454: The station. In 1966, there were 60,119 trains with 6.4 million passengers. That same year, half of the international mail from Yugoslavia was shipped from the station. The "golden age" of the station were the 1970s and 1980s, when the peak of 150 trains per day was reached. Following Breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, abrupt demise of railway traffic in Serbia followed, consequences of which are felt also today. Meanwhile, construction of
21465-500: The title and rank of a Queen . At the Easter reception of 1886, Queen Natalie publicly slapped the wife of the Greek ambassador. The Greek woman was rumored to have an affair with King Milan. The relationship of the royal couple reached a critical level in 1887, following not only many affairs of the King with other women, but even political differences between King and Queen. The King pursued
21624-509: The today's location of the Belgrade Main railway station and parts of the Sarajevska and Hajduk-Veljkov venac streets. Ciganska bara drained two other bogs. One was located on Slavija , which drained through the creek of Vračarski potok which flew down the area of the today's Nemanjina Street . The other pond was Zeleni Venac . The eponymous Gypsies inhabiting the area used the mud from
21783-626: The traffic in the north to south direction. The railroad authorities opposed the project, so the plans were abandoned. In 1966, the Belgrade Bus Station was built, adjoining the station's complex on the north. Starting with 1967, the Yugoslav Railways pursued an electrification programme, initially focusing on railways in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 31 May 1970, the Zagreb to Belgrade railway corridor
21942-468: The two parts of the city is 230 m (755 ft) wide at its narrowest point in Budapest. Pest lies on the flat terrain of the Great Plain while Buda is rather hilly. The wide Danube was always fordable at this point because of a small number of islands in the middle of the river. The city has marked topographical contrasts: Buda is built on the higher river terraces and hills of the western side, while
22101-538: The Óbuda district within Budapest. The Romans constructed roads, amphitheaters , baths and houses with heated floors in this fortified military camp. The Roman city of Aquincum is the best-conserved of the Roman sites in Hungary . The archaeological site was turned into a museum with indoor and open-air sections. The Magyar tribes led by Árpád , forced out of their original homeland north of Bulgaria by Tsar Simeon after
22260-673: Was Ioan Sandu Sturdza , the ruling Prince of Moldavia . She grew up in Dănuțeni , Bessarabia , Odessa , then part of the Russian Empire and Iași , United Romania . She had two sisters and one brother: After she became orphaned by both parents, she was taken into the care by Prince Ivan Manucbey (1810-1893) and raised along with his children. The other guardian was her eldest maternal aunt, Princess Ecaterina Sturdza (1826), second wife of Prince Constantin Moruzi (1819-1886), Chamberlain at
22419-403: Was 3.9 m (13 ft) long and 1.15 m (3 ft 9 in) tall. It was reconstructed in 2019 and made of metal core covered with clay, which is used to make the plaster cast. This cast was used for the new sculpture, which was made of the mix of concrete and three types of crushed Aranđelovac stone . The coat of arms was placed on 11 February 2020. In 1939, 23,298 trains departed from
22578-513: Was an anti-Soviet revolt that lasted from 23 October until 11 November. After Nagy had declared that Hungary was to leave the Warsaw Pact and become neutral, Soviet tanks and troops entered the country to crush the revolt. Fighting continued until mid November, leaving more than 3000 dead. A monument was erected at the fiftieth anniversary of the revolt in 2006, at the edge of the City Park . Its shape
22737-518: Was completely destroyed during the war, but the Russian opted for a built roof instead for restoring the original, glass one. Above the clock, in the tympanum there was a coat of arms of the Kingdom of Serbia, held by sculptured, stone winged lions ( gryphons . Above this composition, the Roman numerals MDCCCLXXXIV, marking the year of 1884, were written over the architrave . New Communist authorities took down
22896-421: Was declared a communist People's Republic ( People's Republic of Hungary ). The new Communist government considered the buildings like the Buda Castle symbols of the former regime, and during the 1950s the palace was gutted and all the interiors were destroyed (also see Stalin era ). On 23 October 1956 citizens held a large peaceful demonstration in Budapest demanding democratic reform. The demonstrators went to
23055-492: Was drafted by the Austrian architect Wilhelm von Flattich [ de ] , while the definite elaboration of the project was done by Dragiša Milutinović . The contractors were the companies of Neischloss and Freind. At the time of the construction, the building represented one of the most monumental buildings and the symbols of royal capital of the time. It is one of the first railway stations in Serbia, whose design included
23214-519: Was electrified, and it marked the first time when an electric railway (excluding trams and industrial railways) reached the Serbian soil. On 25 September 1968, three steel-made bombs exploded in the station's cloakroom , injuring 13 people. Miljenko Hrkać , member of the Ustashe terrorist organization , planted the bombs, so as earlier that year when on 13 July a bomb exploded in the cinema "20. Oktobar", which killed one and injured 86 audience members. Hrkać
23373-470: Was estimated that in the best case scenario Prokop would become a fully functional station, with all necessary and supporting services, only by 2021. Member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and public transportation expert Vukan Vučić described the closing of the station and its transfer to Prokop as the "most disastrous error of the Belgrade transportation". Citing numerous disadvantages of
23532-508: Was for the regular passenger. In this section there were also restaurants, while the upper floor was occupied by the living quarters for the station's employees. After being completed in September 1885 and soon became the most important railway hub in this part of Europe. In 1888 it became a stop on the Orient Express route and in 1892 a ceremonial reception for Nikola Tesla was organized. The very first car in Belgrade arrived by train, via
23691-428: Was headed by the Russian contractors. The clock, placed above the main entrance immediately after the opening in 1885, was also damaged. New mechanism was placed inside and the clock was returned to its original place, but the clock's decorative lace of wrought iron wasn't restored. The door at the main entrance were replaced, but the decoration from the same material as the clock's also hasn't been restored. The glass roof
23850-467: Was later apprehended, sentenced to death and executed in 1978. Gradual moving of trains to the new station began in the early 2016. In December 2017, all but two national trains were dislocated to "Belgrade Center". Problems arose immediately. The Prokop is still not finished, has no station building and a proper access road and public transportation connections with the rest of the city. Additionally, it has no facilities for loading and unloading cars from
24009-461: Was printed in Buda in 1473. Buda had about 5,000 inhabitants around the year 1500. The Ottomans conquered Buda in 1526, as well as in 1529, and finally occupied it in 1541. The Ottoman Rule lasted for more than 150 years. The Ottoman Turks constructed many prominent bathing facilities within the city. Some of the baths that the Turks erected during their rule are still in use 500 years later, including Rudas Baths and Király Baths . By 1547
24168-512: Was put under a regency council led by former prime minister Jovan Ristic . The former King Milan secured the educational rights for his son for himself and ordered the regency council not to allow the Queen Mother a permanent stay in Serbia during the minority of King Alexander. Short meetings between mother and son in foreign countries should be possible with permission of the regency. Queen Natalie did not accept these restricted conditions. In August 1889, she announced publicly to visit her son in
24327-402: Was related), attended her wedding ceremony. She had two sons with him, the future King Alexander , born 1876, whose godfather was Tsar Alexander II of Russia , and his younger brother Sergei (Sergej), who, prematurely born, died just a four days after his birth in 1878. When Prince Milan proclaimed the Kingdom of Serbia in 1882 after securing international recognition, Princess Natalie assumed
24486-465: Was set to February 2020, when the coat-of-arms was restored to the facade. In November 2020, the government decided to relocate the Historical Museum of Serbia into the building, announcing the possible interior reconstruction for late 2021. As it was left unkept, the interior had seriously deteriorated by June 2021. The plaster on the walls was peeled off, on some places uncovering the reed, which
24645-477: Was still covered with scaffolds. The first train from this station departed towards Zemun with courtly honours, on 1 September [ O.S. 20 August] 1884, at 3 p.m. As Serbia was declared a kingdom in 1882, the first passengers were now King Milan, Queen Natalie and the Crown Prince Alexander , on the way to Vienna . More than 200 foreign guests and couple of thousands of citizens attended
24804-618: Was the Princess of Serbia from 1875 to 1882 and then Queen of Serbia from 1882 to 1889 as the wife of Milan I of Serbia . A celebrated beauty during her youth, she was later regarded as one of the most beautiful queens in Europe. She was born in 1859 in Florence , Grand Duchy of Tuscany (now Italy ), into an old noble House of Keshko , as the first child of Russian colonel Petre Keșco (1830–1865) of Bessarabia and his wife, Moldavian Princess Pulcheria Sturdza (1831–1874). Her father
24963-508: Was the son of Ioan Keșco (1809–1863), a Marshal of Nobility of Bessarabia , and Romanian noblewoman Natalia Balș (1812–1830), daughter of Iordache Balș (1776-1849), Grand treasurer of Moldavia and Princess Ruxandra Sturdza (1785-1844). Maternally, she was granddaughter of Prince Nicolae Sturdza (1790-1832) and Princess Maria Ghika (1805-1887). When her grandfather died, her grandmother Maria (1805-1887) remarried to Prince Nicolae George Rosetti (1794-1858). Natalie's great-grandfather
25122-436: Was to be spanned with nine urban blocks, spreading on both sides of the Sava. Railway station itself was to preserve its function, with additional overhaul which would make it look like the largest railways stations in Europe ("large lace made of glass and steel"). Savamala was to be populated with hotels, bus station, terminus for the airport transport, megamarkets, etc. However, disliked by the group of influential architects, in
25281-426: Was used for plating at the time. The basement was flooded, the roof beams were covered in mold, and the parquet flooring dried and bent. Dušica Bojić, director of the Historical Museum of Serbia which took over the building on 19 November 2020, said that the situation in the building was very bad. All communal infrastructure had been ruptured, with wastewater flooding the basement. The power grid also collapsed, causing
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