Buda (in Hungarian pronounced as /ˈbudɒ/, German: Ofen)[1] is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (Hungarian: Várhegy), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and 1249 and subsequently served as the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1361 to 1873. In 1873, Buda was administratively unified with Pest and Óbuda to form modern Budapest.
Royal Buda is called the Várnegyed today, while “Buda” pars pro toto denotes Budapest’s I., II., III., XI., XII. and XIII. districts. This colloquial definition thus includes medieval Óbuda and amounts to a third of the city’s total area, much of it forested. Buda's landmarks include the Royal Palace, Matthias Church, the Citadella, Gellért Baths, the Buda Hills, the Carmelite Monastery of Buda, and the residence of the President of Hungary, Sándor Palace.
According to a legend recorded in chronicles from the Middle Ages, the name "Buda" comes from the name of Bleda (Hungarian: Buda), brother of Hunnic ruler Attila.
The Buda fortress and palace were built by King Béla IV of Hungary in 1247, and were the nucleus around which the town of Buda was built, which soon gained great importance, and became in 1361 the capital of Hungary.
While Pest was mostly Hungarian in the 15th century, Buda had a German majority;[2] however according to the Hungarian Royal Treasury, it had a Hungarian majority with a sizeable German minority in 1495.[3] In 1432, Bertrandon de la Broquière wrote that Buda "is governed by Germans, as well in respect to police as commerce, and what regards the different professions". He noted a significant Jewish population in the city, proficient in French, many of whom were descendants of Jews previously expelled from France.[4]
Buda became part of Ottoman-ruled central Hungary from 1541 to 1686. It was the capital of the province of Budin during the Ottoman era. By the middle of the seventeenth century Buda had become majority Muslim, largely resulting from an influx of Balkan Muslims.[5]
In 1686, two years after the unsuccessful siege of Buda, a renewed European campaign was started to enter Buda, which was formerly the capital of medieval Hungary. This time, the Holy League's army was twice as large, containing over 74,000 men, including German, Dutch, Hungarian, English, Spanish, Czech, French, Croat, Burgundian, Danish and Swedish soldiers, along with other Europeans as volunteers, artillerymen, and officers, the Christian forces reconquered Buda (see Siege of Buda).
After the reconquest of Buda, bourgeoisie from different parts of southern Germany moved into the almost deserted city. Germans — also clinging to their language — partly crowded out, partly assimilated the Hungarians and Serbians they had found here.[2] As the rural population moved into Buda, in the 19th century Hungarians slowly became the majority there.
Capestrano, Italy