City Park (Budapest)
The City Park (Hungarian: Városliget, pronounced [ˈvaːroʃliɡɛt]; German: Stadtwäldchen) is a public park close to the centre of Budapest, Hungary. It contains many attractions, including buildings from the 19th century, such as Széchenyi thermal bath and Budapest Zoo, as well as museums built in the early 2020s, including the Museum of Ethnography.
History
The area was formerly called Ökör-dűlő, meaning "Oxmeadow". The first mention of the name comes from 1241 in the archaic form, Ukurföld. In the 18th century, the area was called Ochsenried in German.
Around 1800 the official name was changed to Batthyány-erdő (Batthyány Forest) after its tenants, the Batthyány family. The first trees and planned walkways were established in 1751 and after the public park was created in the first decades of the 19th century the present-day name, Városliget (and its German version, Stadtwäldchen, lit.: "little city forest") was accepted and it became one of the first public parks in the world.
The City Park was the main venue of the 1896 millennium celebrations of Hungary, by which time Andrássy Avenue, Millennium Underground and the Grand Boulevard had been built.
The park hosted motorsport events in the 1950s.
The Liget Budapest project, an urban-cultural development project, was begun in 2019[1] by Viktor Orbán's government to develop the park into a cultural precinct.[2] It includes a new playground and sports centre, as well as a number of new and renewed cultural buildings. The New National Gallery, the most significant element of the project, is due to be completed by 2028.[1]
Description and location
City Park in Budapest, known locally as Városliget, is a 0.9-by-0.6-mile (1,400 by 970 m) rectangle, with an area of 302 acres (1.2 km2), located in District XIV of Budapest, between Hungária körút, Ajtósi Dürer sor, Vágány utca and Dózsa György út.[3][4]
Its main entrance is at Heroes' Square (Hősök tere), one of Hungary's World Heritage sites.
Map
Map of the park as of 2022:[5]
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Attractions
The statue of Anonymus, the unknown chronicler at the court of King Béla III (r 1172–96), known as Anonymous,[6] is in the courtyard of Vajdahunyad Castle, within the park.[7]
The House of Music Hungary, part of Liget Budapest, designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, opened in January 2022,[2][8] and the Museum of Ethnography opened on 23 May 2022.[9]
City Park also includes:
- Széchenyi thermal bath[10]
- Budapest Zoo, opened in 1866[10]
- Gundel Restaurant, opened in 1894[10]
- Budapest Circus Building, where the first performance was held in 1891[11][10]
- City Park Ice Rink, originally opened in 1870[12]
See also
- People's Park (Népliget)
- Margaret Island (Margitsziget)
References
- ^ a b "About Liget Budapest projekt". ligetbudapest.hu. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
- ^ a b "House of Music Hungary". Liget Budapest. 9 March 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ "City Park, Budapest". aviewoncities.com. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- ^ MapDevelopers.com (the area is displayed after clicking the inside of the selected polygon)
- ^ "Map of Városliget". ligetbudapest.hu. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
- ^ "Budapest, Hungary: Anonymous Statue". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ Mallard, Forrest (5 March 2025). "Statue of Anonymous: Budapest Hungary's Nameless Chronicler". Tramposaurus. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
- ^ Novak, Benjamin (2 February 2022). "A Music Museum Opens in the Heart of Hungary's Culture Wars". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
- ^ "New Museum of Ethnography building in the City Park opens". ligetbudapest.hu. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d "City Park". Budapest.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
- ^ "budapestagent.com, Budapest Circus". Archived from the original on 13 September 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
- ^ "The Must-see Attractions You Shouldn't Miss". Budapest.com. 9 March 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.