Rudas Bath or Rudas fürdő is a thermal bath in

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 o ...

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, Croat ...

which is claimed to have medicinal properties. It was first built in 1550, during the time of

Ottoman rule Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fr ...

. To date, it retains many of the key elements of a

Hammam A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited f ...

, exemplified by its Ottoman dome and octagonal pool. It is located at Döbrentei tér 9 on the

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

side of Erzsébet Bridge. The bath has six therapy pools and one swimming pool where the temperature is in between . The components of slightly radioactive thermal water includes sulfate, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate and a significant amount of fluoride ion. A sight-seeing brochure claims the water can help to treat degenerative joint illnesses, chronic and sub-acute joint inflammations, vertebral disk problems, neuralgia and lack of calcium in the bone system. The baths were used by

Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Sokollu Mehmed Pasha ( ota, صوقوللى محمد پاشا, Ṣoḳollu Meḥmed Pașa, tr, Sokollu Mehmet Paşa; ; ; 1506 – 11 October 1579) was an Ottoman statesman most notable for being the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. Born in ...

, governor of Buda Vilayet of the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

between 1566 and 1578. This is inscribed in Hungarian in the baths, on a stone standing atop the Juve spring, which is believed by locals to have a rejuvenating effect on people. The baths were used as a location for the opening scene of the 1988 action movie

Red Heat The practice of using colours to determine the temperature of a piece of (usually) ferrous metal comes from blacksmithing. Long before thermometers were widely available it was necessary to know what state the metal was in for heat treating it ...

, starring

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

and

James Belushi James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom '' According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...

. It re-opened at the beginning of 2006, after a comprehensive renovation of its interior. The baths are open to women only on Tuesdays, to men the rest of the week, and both men and women on the weekend. The attached swimming pool is always open to both men and women.Opening Times
Rudas Thermal Bath and Swimming Pool

Gallery

File:RudasFotoThalerTamas.JPG, Turkish times File:Erzsébet híd budai hídfő, Hungária ivóforrás. Fortepan 12086.jpg, Hungária drinking fountain File:Döbrentei tér, a lerombolt Erzsébet híd és a Rudas fürdő romjai a Gellérthegyről nézve. Fortepan 52128.jpg, After world war 2 File:Szent Gellért rakpart, Rudas fürdő, Budapest. - Fortepan 103704.jpg, 1960's File:Rudascivertanlegi2.jpg, File:Rudas fürdő.jpg, File:Rudas fürdő, úszómedence, 4.jpg, Swimming pool File:Rudas fürdő, úszómedence, 3.jpg, Swimming pool (29 °C) File:Rudas fürdő, wellness részleg, 32 °C-os medence, 6.jpg, 32 °C File:Rudas fürdő, wellness részleg, 36 °C-os medence, 6.jpg, 36 °C File:Rudas fürdő, wellness részleg, 42 °C-os medence, 3.jpg, 42 °C File:Rudas fürdő, szaunavilág, sókamra.jpg, Sauna world File:Rudas fürdő, szaunavilág, sókamra, 2.jpg, Salt room File:Rudas fürdő, szaunavilág, aroma szauna, 3.jpg, Aroma sauna File:Rudas fürdő, szaunavilág, hőlégkamra, 2.jpg, Dry sauna File:Rudas fürdő, szaunavilág, finn szauna, 2.jpg, Finnish sauna File:Rudas fürdő, ivóvíz, 6.jpg, Drinking well

Notes

External links

Budapest Spas and Hot Springs entry on Rudas BathsAerial photographs
Ottoman architecture in Hungary Thermal baths in Budapest Swimming venues in Hungary {{Hungary-struct-stub