The Belvárosi Bridge in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

, Hungary, is the main bridge of the city, connecting ''Újszeged'', on the left bank of the river

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa (see below) is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. It was once called "the most Hungarian river" because it used to flow entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national bo ...

, to the other quarters. It was the only crossing on the river in the

County A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

until the finishing of the ''Bertalan Bridge'' in 1979. Every year in May the ''Hídivásá''r (Bridgemarket) is held there, drawing thousands of visitors to the city. Its two ends are: * Roosevelt Square in Szeged, with the Móra Ferenc Múzeum * Torontál Square in Újszeged, with the Erzsébet Park

History

After the Great Flood of Szeged in 1879, it was an important aspect of the renovations to create a permanent crossing on the Tisza river. Construction began in December 1880, according to the plans of

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel ( , ; Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway net ...

and

János Feketeházy János is a masculine Hungarian given name. It originates from the Hebrew name Johanan and is thus a variant of the English name John. People Notable people with the name include: * János Aczél (mathematician) (1924–2020), Hungarian- ...

, and finished on September 23, 1883. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it was seriously damaged on September 3, 1944, in an air attack by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

, then at October 9 the same year,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

soldiers exploded it while withdrawing before

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

troops. The removal of the wreckage started only after the war in 1946, and the reconstruction took two years by the plans of Győző Mihailich and Róbert Folly. The renovated bridge finally reopened in 1948. Between 1909–1944 and 1949–1979 the

Tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

line 5 ran through the bridge, since then

Trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

lines 5 and 7 superseded it.

Gallery

File:A Belvárosi híd, Szeged - Downtown Bridge, Szeged - panoramio.jpg, The bridge pictured from the staircase on the right bank File:Szeged, Belvárosi híd.jpg, The flags of the city of

, the Republic of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

decorate the bridge during national holidays File:Szeged Belvárosi-híd. - panoramio.jpg, View from the ''Rakpart'' File:Szeged Panoráma3SF 003.jpg, The Belvárosi Bridge from the tower of the Votive Church, Szeged File:Szeged Régi híd belvárosi hídfő 2010-01-07.JPG, The ''Rakpart'' (

Wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

) during a flood in 2010 File:Tisza part, Belvárosi híd. Fortepan 26138.jpg, During the building of the ''Rakpart'' File:Roosevelt (Rudolf) tér, előtérben a Belvárosi híd feljárója és vámházai, szemben a Móra Ferenc Múzeum. Fortepan 86424.jpg, Ramps of the old bridge at Rudolf (today Roosevelt) Square at the right bank of the Tisza

References

{{coord, 46.2509, 20.1532, type:landmark_region:HU, display=title Bridges in Hungary Bridges completed in 1948 Bridges completed in 1883 Bridges over the Tisza Buildings and structures in Szeged