Pest

Located on the Eastern bank of the Danube, Pest is a hub of activity for locals and tourists alike, where most of the city's energy, culture, food, and history is concentrated. It was originally founded as a Celtic settlement over 2000 years ago, then became a fortified Roman camp known as Contra-Aquincum, positioned directly across the Danube from the major Roman city of Aquincum (which was on the Buda/Óbuda side). After the Magyar tribes settled the area in the 9th century, two separate cities began developing on either side of the Danube. Pest was then conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1526, and during the long Ottoman occupation, it declined significantly and was practically abandoned. It only truly began flourishing once more at the end of the 17th century, after the Habsburgs expelled the Ottomans, reaching a population of around 200 000 by the latter half of the 19th century.

The amalgamation of the 2 cities on either side of the river would be made official in 1872 when a law was passed to bring together Buda and Pest along with the market town of Óbuda and Margaret Island into one legislature. The combined city rapidly became one of the great metropolises of Europe, and much of the grand architecture you see in Pest today, including the Parliament, the Opera House and Andrássy Avenue (where the House of Terror Museum is located) was built in the decades immediately following unification.