The Tabán usually refers to an area within the 1st district of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, the capital 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 ...

. It lies on the

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

(i.e., western) side of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, to the south of György Dózsa Square, on the northern side of Elisabeth Bridge and to the east of Naphegy. Several other Hungarian cities and towns also have districts called Tabán.

History

The Tabán has been inhabited since Neolithic times due to its location in a protected valley, the thermal waters at the bottom of the Gellért Hill, and the ford over the Danube. In the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

, it was inhabited by a tribe of

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

, who were replaced by the Romans in the 1st century BC. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the Tabán was a village under

Buda Castle Buda Castle (, ), formerly also called the Royal Palace () and the Royal Castle (, ), is the historical castle and palace complex of the King of Hungary, Hungarian kings in Budapest. First completed in 1265, the Baroque architecture, Baroque pa ...

. Remains of significant medieval structures were discovered by archaeologists in 1936, and the 12th-century relief of the Tabán Christ might have belonged to a church located in the area. During the Ottoman occupation of Hungary, the Turks developed the thermal medicinal baths in the area and brought in settlers from the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

. The population increased after the 1686 liberation of

from as refugees arrived from

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. The

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

from Bosnia established the Tabán parish Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria in the 17th century; the church was rebuilt in Baroque style between 1728 and 1777 and reconstructed several times. The

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the populat ...

inhabitants established their own parish. The Church of St. Demetrius was built in 1742-51 in Baroque style; it was the largest church building in the

Metropolitanate of Karlovci The Metropolitanate of Karlovci () was a metropolitanate of the Eastern Orthodox Church that existed in the Habsburg monarchy between 1708 and 1848. Between 1708 and 1713, it was known as the Metropolitanate of Krušedol Monastery, Krušedol, ...

. In the 18th century, the town was inhabited by

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

Vlachs Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

and

Gypsies {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , ...

. By the 19th century, the Tabán became known as a

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

quarter of Budapest with many restaurants, bars and bordellos. Its narrow streets on the hillsides echoed a

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

atmosphere. Kereszt Street was at the center of this district. In the 1930s, the Tabán was demolished as part of a project of

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

. Today, it is a popular park.

Topography

After the 1930

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

in Budapest, only a few old Tabán houses were left in the Naphegy district; one of them was the Tabán school, which was destroyed in January 1945, during the

battle of Budapest The siege of Budapest or battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet and Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the broader Budapest Offensive, the siege began when Budapes ...

. Today a sports field can be found where the school once stood. The original streets remaining are Orom Street in Gellérthegy and Tabán Czakó Street in Naphegy. Taban's historic and cultural attractions include a Memorial of the

1956 Hungarian Revolution The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

near Naphegy Street and Kereszt Street and the Semmelweiss Orvostörténeti Múzeum near Apród Street.

Tabán in literature

The poet Dezső Kosztolányi wrote: ''"Köröttem - esős akvarell - Tabán.''
''Nyugodt lennék itt s boldog is talán..."'' ''"I crossed Tabán - a rainy watercolour.''
''I would be at peace here and maybe happy too..."''

Sights

Major sights include *

Rác Thermal Bath The Rác Thermal Bath, located in Budapest, Hungary, is an 8000-square metre bath and is renowned for its Turkish bath dating back to the 16th century, and its imperial pools and shower corridor built in the age of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. T ...

* Rudas Baths *

Semmelweis Museum of Medical History The Semmelweis Museum, Library and Archive of the History of Medicine () is a museum, library and archive in Budapest, Hungary. It was founded in 1965, and became a department of the Hungarian National Museum in 2017. The museum is located in the ...

Tabán ruins The Tabán ruins () are a group of medieval ruins in Budapest, Hungary. They are located in Várkerület, District I, in the Tabán neighbourhood, between Szarvas tér and Krisztina körút. The scattered ruins officially belong to one listed mon ...

Gallery

File:Sportpálya a Naphegyen (Budapest).jpg, The old Tabán school was here, today sports field Naphegy near Czakó Street, Tabán's historic places 1945 - 2003 File:Tabáni ház a Czakó utca és az Aladár utca sarkán (Budapest).jpg, The last Tabán house; Czakó Street–Aladár Street in 2003, Tabán's historic places 1945 - 2003 Image:Taban-2003-tavasz-aprilis-16.jpg, Tabán Springtime 2003, Tabán park today 2003 - 2004 Image:Taban-2003-Majus-1.jpg, May 1. 2003, Tabán park today 2003 - 2004 Image:Taban-1956-emlekmu.jpg, Memorial 1956 -

, Tabán park today 2003 - 2004 Image:Tabán-Jatszoter.jpg, Playground, Naphegy utca - Hadnagy utca, Tabán park today 2003 - 2004

Sources