Insparational nation

If you would like to sample the baths of Budapest, take a minute to think about who built them. Lucy Mallows discovers more ...


TWO things that make Budapest a destination with a difference are the coffee houses and the thermal baths. Though the inventive Magyarok can claim many things (a part share in Vitamin C, Rubik's cube and the hydrogen bomb amongst others) as their idea, the two main tourist attractions associated with Budapest can be attributed to the Turks of the Ottoman Empire.


However, if you were taught history in a Hungarian school, that's probably not the way the Turks were depicted. "Decades of disinformation have told only negative aspects of the Ottoman occupation," said Victoria Hill, a dynamic businesswoman who is determined to save the crumbling Turkish baths in Hungary's capital and see them find their rightful place on the Unesco World Heritage list of outstanding natural and man-made treasures.


Hill formed the Friends of the Baths, a cultural group which meets regularly for lectures and discussions on Ottoman culture and its previously neglected influence on Hungarian life "The widely held belief that Hungary languished for a century and a half during the Ottoman occupation is simply not true," said Hill. There was a thriving economy in Buda during the time, primarily due to its position on the caravan route. It is also clear from the long history between the Hungarians and Ottomans that their relationship was unique in the region, as was the society that developed in Buda during medieval times.


Even when the Ottomans were forcing their own form of society on Hungary, the strong tribal heritage prevailed. The Hungarian version of multi-ethnic tribalism mixed with European societies was very special.


Buda with its remaining architecture and thermal baths offers a flashback to Ottoman times.


Hill hopes that this small collection of living monuments will be preserved for the enjoyment and fascination of generations to come.


"The Ottomans are very important to us in the West because they created forms of state administration, the ways in which they operated created the threads for democracy now," said Hill.


One family ruled over the Ottoman Empire (which lasted from 1302 to 1924) for seven centuries in an unbroken line. Sultan "Süleyman the Magnificent" brought the Empire to its zenith.


As the fourth Ottoman sultan, he presided over the most powerful state in the world, from 1520 to 1566.


He was a cunning military strategist and more than doubled the territory inherited from his father. He built elegant mosques, baths, schools, fountains and gardens. Few people know that "Süleyman the Magnificent" died on Hungarian soil on the way to capturing Vienna.


Buda was once home to 26 mosques. Today only the baths remain from Buda's imarets (inns or hospices).


Situated from south to north along the Danube these are the Rudas, Rác, Király, Lukács and Császár baths. In addition there are two other Ottoman architectural relics: The Malomtó gunpowder mill and the Gül Baba Tomb.


Only the outer structure of the earlier building at the Malomtó remains. The Gül Baba Tomb, however was completely renovated in 1962 and is preserved as a gift of the Turkish government.


The first baths on the site of the Rudas date from the late 14th century. The exact date isn't known, although renovation and expansion work was carried out in 1566.


The new building was constructed by the Pasha of Buda in the 16th century and his plaque remains in the main chamber.


The original cupola, vaulted corridor and main octagonal pool remain, although heavily restored. There are several reasons to believe that this work might have been carried out by "Sinan the Architect".


Sinan was a Greek architect and contemporary of Michelangelo, who designed 30 mosques and lived to the age of 99.


He was a maths genius who revolutionized Muslim architecture and created incredible, huge domes. Sinan was the royal architect at the time when Süleyman the Magnificent died.


The size of the Rudas cupola is unique. It is the largest in Europe and only two of its size exist in Turkey. The type of pillar used in the steam room of the Rudas matches Sinan's style of work.


Also, he was working on an aqueduct in Belgrade in 1565 only one year before the Rudas reconstruction and it would have certainly been a much shorter trip to Buda than to travel back to Istanbul.


During the 1500s the Rudas also housed either a Dervish Tekke (lodge) or a zaviye (hostel for travelers) run by Dervish monks. Only the ground floor of the former three-story building remains. Bombing during the Second World War destroyed the upper two stories. There has never been sufficient funding to fully restore the building.


Hill estimates that between $8 and $15 million are needed to renovate the Rudas Baths. "It has not been touched since 1945 and is waiting for an investor like the Rác has found in Miklós Bornemisza's Rác Nosztalgia Kft, who plan to enlarge the bath territory, build a hotel and restaurant complex and even create a chair lift leading from the Rác up to the top of Gellért Hill," said Hill.


The Rác Baths were originally built during the time of King Mátyás. It is believed that an underground passageway connected the baths to the Royal Gardens in the southwest side of the Castle. Later in the 16th century, the Ottomans added the cupola that remains to this day.


In the 17th century, the Turkish traveler and chronicler Evliya Chelebi described the Rác as a "richly ornamented building" containing eight pools. The water contained a high degree of sulphur, making it useful for goldsmiths' work.


The Király Baths are in a small, beautiful building which possibly predates the work of Sinan.


Prior to Sinan, domes or cupolas were placed on top of the outer walls of a building or on broad, squat pillars. Sinan introduced large, graceful cupolas that rested on narrow, towering pillars.


The Király reflects the former style and has retained more of its original Turkish character than any of the other Buda baths. It is also unique because it does not have its own well.


Water for the Király is carried via a larch wood conduit system from the Lukács wells.


Construction began in 1566 and was completed by Pasha Sokoli Mustapha in 1570. Located within the Viziváros town walls, it meant the Ottoman soldiers could perform their ablutions even during a siege.


"The Király Baths also need a great deal of work as it may be sinking on Fô utca. The small volume of water flowing into the Király Baths dictates that the number of customers will never make it profitable, neither is the Rudas, " said Hill.


"The city operates the Rudas at a loss. But the Pepsi bottling plant is a tenant, so there is money flowing in. There is also a day hospital at the Rudas which provides another source of income," she continued.


The Császár Baths are among the oldest thermal baths in Buda, having been known in Roman times. In 1178 the Knights Templar of StJ ohn established a settlement at the site of the two baths, building a monastery, church, hospital and two baths. During the time of the Ottomans, the baths were extremely popular and renovated by Buda Pasha Sokollu Mustafa in 1571-72.


The Rudas and Király are both national monuments.


In 1987, the Cultural Ministry was going to register with ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) proposing that the Turkish baths be proposed for inclusion on the World Heritage List. However, in 1989 the Cultural Ministry split, there are no records in the treasury, the plan seems to have fallen by the wayside.




24.07.2003