Photos

Travelogue

This is another view from the Citadele, behind the bridges you can see large green island called Margit's or Margitsziget.It'sa 2.5 km long island (0.965 km² in area) in the middle of the Danube in Budapest, between the two city parts, Buda and Pest.
The island is mostly covered by park areas, and is a popular recreational area for tourists as well as locals. The island spans the area between the Margaret Bridge (south) and the Árpád Bridge (north).
Its major landmarks are, among others, the Centennial Memorial, a small Japanese Garden with a mildly thermal fish pond, a tiny zoo featuring a wide range of exotic waterfowl among other animals, a fountain with background music (for example Strauss) and light show in summer, the Musical Fountain (in fact, a tower built for open-air concerts, renovated in 1936), and an octagonal Water Tower of 57 m (built in Art Nouveau style in 1911, today functioning as a lookout tower and an exhibition hall, pictured), of which the latter two were declared protected by UNESCO.
The island houses various sports establishments, like the Palatinus water park (the largest open-air swimming complex in Budapest), the Alfréd Hajós sports pool (where the European LC Championships 2006 took place), a tennis stadium and an athletics centre.There is also an open-air theatre accommodating an audience of 3500, and several clubs and restaurants. For exploration and pastime, four-person cycle cars (called bringóhintó) or small electric cars can be rented for use on island grounds.Among the present historical monuments of the island are the XIII. century ruins of a Franciscan church and a Dominican church and convent, as well as a Premonstratensian church from the XII. century. Members of the Augustinian order also lived on this island.
The island used to be called Rabbit Island (Nyulak szigete), and it received its current name after Saint Margaret (1242–1270), the daughter of Béla IV. of Hungary. The island was dominated by nunneries, churches and cloisters until the XVIII. century, when it was chosen to be the resort of palatines. It was declared a public garden in 1908.
Since the 1980's, entry by cars has been limited to special cases; only a single bus line and taxis, alongside the service traffic of local stores and restaurants are allowed to enter. On the northern end of the island a car park houses the cars of hotel guests.
There is an excellent rubber-coated jogging track going around the island (5200 meters, marked by every 500 meters).