Kispest (lit. ''Little Pest'') is the 19th (XIX) district of

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the 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 a ...

. It lies south-southeast of the historical

Pest city Pest () is the eastern, mostly flat part of Budapest, Hungary, comprising about two-thirds of the city's territory. It is separated from Buda and Óbuda, the western parts of Budapest, by the Danube River. Among its most notable sights are the ...

. It was founded in 1871 on rural land as a village at the borderline of Pest, so it was named Kispest.

History

From 1880 to 1990 Kispest's population increased from 1820 to 72,838. Kispest became part of

Greater Budapest Greater Budapest is the name of Budapest in its present, extended size, as it was created by the ''Law No. XXVI of 1949'' passed on December 15, 1949 and it came into force on January 1, 1950. By attaching 7 towns and 16 villages to the former Budap ...

in 1950. When the Soviet troops re-entered Budapest to subdue the civil uprising in October/November 1956, they approached the city centre from the south-east, up the Üllői Street, with some of the first street clashes taking place in Kispest. The huge panel housing estate (Kispest

microdistrict Microdistrict, or microraion (russian: микрорайо́н, ''mikrorajón''), is a residential complex—a primary structural element of the residential area construction in the Soviet Union and in some post-Soviet and former Socialist st ...

) was built between the 1960s and the 1980s (12,100 flats, c. 33,000 inhabitants, making it the sixth-biggest housing estate/microraion in Budapest).Housing estates of Budapest (Index.hu, Hungarian)
/ref>

Wekerletelep

Wekerletelep is Kispest's suburb with detached houses and green areas. It was named after the Hungarian premier at the time of the development in the 1900s,

Sándor Wekerle Sándor Wekerle (14 November 1848 – 26 August 1921) was a Hungarian politician who served three times as prime minister. He was the first non-noble to hold the office in Hungary. Biography He was born in Mór to a Danube Swabian family, i ...

. Its central square, ''Főtér'', has two characteristic architectural gateways designed by the architect

Károly Kós Károly Kós (, born Károly Kosch; 16 December 1883 – 25 August 1977) was a Hungarian architect, writer, illustrator, ethnologist and politician of Austria-Hungary and Romania. Biography Born as Károly Kosch in Temesvár, Austria-Hung ...

and based on

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

n building style. In May every year a festival called ''Wekerle Days'' (Hu: ''Wekerle Napok)'' takes place. This involves fun run, sports events, concerts and various other cultural and family oriented programss for all age groups.

Public transport

The district is served by the Metro 3 ( Kőbánya-Kispest and Határ út stations), so there is direct connection with the

city center A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

. ''Határ út'' underground station is the third-busiest in the city (after Deák Square and Örs vezér tere) with an estimated 40,000 passengers using it (often twice) on a typical workday.

Sport

Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; born Ferenc Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian football player and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward, ...

played football for Kispest F.C. (then called

Kispest Honvéd FC Kispest (lit. ''Little Pest'') is the 19th (XIX) district of Budapest, Hungary. It lies south-southeast of the historical Pest city. It was founded in 1871 on rural land as a village at the borderline of Pest, so it was named Kispest. Histo ...

) in the 1950s. *

Budapest Honvéd FC Budapest Honvéd Football Club (), commonly known as Budapest Honvéd or simply Honvéd, is a Hungarian sports club based in Kispest, Budapest, with the colours of red and black. The club is best known for its football team. ''Honvéd'' means th ...

, football team * Kispesti Textil SE, defunct football team Kispest NKK, women's handball team, NB1/B second league

List of mayors

Gallery

File:111kispesteste.jpg, The church of Saint Mary of the Assumption in Kispest File:Budapest-Kispest 1.JPG, Kispest housing estate File:Budapest-Kispest 2.JPG, A panel block next to Kőbánya-Kispest metro station

Notes

References

{{Authority control __NOTOC__ Urban planning in Hungary