HEALING SPRINGS AT THE FOOT OF THE GELLERT-HILL

Gellért bath and the marvellous Art Nouveau style hotel built near it are among the symbols of Budapest. Although the building complex designed by architects Ármin Hegedűs, Izidor Stark and Artúr Sebestyén was opened in its present shape only in 1918, the Gellért bath is one of the oldest baths of the town. The spring breaking forth here was first mentioned in 1433. 

In the Middle Ages the public bath expressively called 'The Purgatory' by the Turks, still functioned in a huge, natural cavern of the Gellért-hill. Its water was attributed wondrous healing powers. The exquisite Art Nouveau building rich both in Hungarian and Oriental elements is at the same time playful and monumental. The stylishness, charm, the almost luxuriant spaces of the hotel and the bath join in a special atmosphere. Characteristically for Art Nouveau, even the slightest details are genuine masterpieces of applied arts. The main adornment of the Gellért bath is its more than seven hundred square metres, concurrently archaising and Oriental style bathing hall. The thermal bath section on the other hand evokes the world of Turkish baths with magic, plentiful decoration. The elegant open area created in the end of the twenties reminds of the upper middle class of the period between the two world wars. The lido surrounded by the villas on the Gellért-hill is only a stone's throw away from the heart of Budapest: its position is indeed unique.

Rudas bath is one of the best known baths of Budapest, due to its beauty, the splendid water and its scenic position (the only building complex on the narrow stripe between the Danube and the foot of the Gellért-hill). The building was started by Pasha Sokol Mustafa in 1566, on earlier foundations. It was called 'The Bath With Green Pillars' (Jesil direkli ilidje) at the time, and a caravanserai stood in its immediate vicinity. The one-time Turkish bath, which consisted of an octagonal pool covered by a marvellous cupola supported by eight pillars can be visited in its original state even today. The newer sections of the Rudas bath opened in 1883, respectively 1896 are linked to the original edifice. The beauty of its stylish swimming hall is comparable to that of the Gellért. Its first-rate waters are remarkably suitable also for a drinking cure. The compelling spaces of the Rudas bath have served for several years as the scene of the Europe-wide famous Cinetrip programmes, a peculiar mixture of cinema, dance and scenery theatre.