Árpád Bridge or Árpád híd () is a bridge in

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 ...

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 ...

, connecting northern

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 ...

(

Óbuda Óbuda (, ) is, together with Buda and Pest, one of the three cities that were unified to form the Hungarian capital city of Budapest in 1873. Today, together with Békásmegyer, Óbuda forms a part of the city's third district, although the to ...

) and Pest across 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 ...

. Until the inauguration of

Megyeri Bridge The Megyeri Bridge (, ), previously known as the Northern M0 Danube bridge, is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the River Danube between Buda and Pest, respectively the west and east sides of Budapest, the capital of Hungary. It is an importan ...

in 2008, it was the longest bridge in Hungary, spanning about 2 km (1.24 mi) with the sections leading up to the bridge, and 928 m (0.58 mi) without them. It is 35.3 m (116 ft) wide with pedestrian and bicycle paths and a tramline. At its Óbuda end is Flórián tér, Szentlélek tér (near the Main Square of

, the Vasarely and Kassák Museums).

Margaret Island Margaret Island ( ; ) is a long island, wide, ( in area) in the middle of the Danube in central Budapest, Hungary. The island is mostly covered by landscape parks, and is a popular recreational area. Its medieval ruins are reminders of its impo ...

is connected to

Árpád Árpád (; 845 – 907) was the head of the confederation of the Magyar tribes at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. He might have been either the sacred ruler or '' kende'' of the Hungarians, or their military leader or '' g ...

Bridge through an embranchment approximately in the middle of the bridge, and crosses the Southern tip of

Óbuda Island Óbuda (, ) is, together with Buda and Pest, Hungary, Pest, one of the three cities that were unified to form the Hungary, Hungarian capital city of Budapest in 1873. Today, together with Békásmegyer, Óbuda forms a part of the city's third dis ...

as well, although there is no road, pedestrian or any other connection whatsoever between the two. (See

Sziget Festival Sziget Festival (, ) is one of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe. It is held every August in northern Budapest, Hungary, on Óbudai-sziget ("Old Buda Island"), a leafy 108-hectare (266-acre) island on the Danube. More than 1,0 ...

) At the Pest end, the adjoining Line 3 (North-South)

metro station A metro station or subway station is a train station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the syste ...

was called "

Árpád híd Árpád (; 845 – 907) was the head of the confederation of the Magyar tribes at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. He might have been either the sacred ruler or ''kende'' of the Hungarians, or their military leader or '' gy ...

" until 31 January 2020.

Construction and expansion

From the History

In earlier times there was a bridge in the same area established by the Romans, it was connecting a fort and the old Roman settlement of Aquincum. There was a plan at the beginning of the 19th century, to create a new bridge named Árpád, however the tender was announced only in 1929.Lovely Budapest
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The original bridge

Construction began in 1939 by the plans of János Kossalka. It was planned to be named "Árpád Bridge" after Grand Prince Árpád, the second

Grand Prince of the Magyars Grand Prince () was the title used by contemporary sources to name the leader of the federation of the Hungarian tribes in the tenth century.Constantine VII mentioned Árpád in his book De Administrando Imperio as ', while Bruno of Querfurt refe ...

. Due to

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 ...

, the bridge was finished only after the war in 1950. Because of the communist regime then ruling Hungary, the bridge was opened as

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Bridge (Hungarian: ''Sztálin híd''). The final construction works were directed by Károly Széchy and Pál Sávoly. Although the pillars were built in their current dimensions, the original bridge contained only a 2x1 lane road, railroad tracks (for trams, but until the reconstruction of the Northern Rail Bridge the tracks were also used by cargo trains as well) with pedestrian paths. This bridge was 13 m (42.65 ft) wide, 11 meters (36 ft) of this was the road and the tracks, and an additional 1 m (3.28 ft) wide pedestrian path were on each sides. Today the tram tracks are where the original bridge was situated. The name was changed back to Árpád Bridge in 1958.

Expansion

Between 1980 and 1984, by extensive reconstruction and expansion works, two more lanes were added for cars, the pedestrian pathways were widened, the tram track was modernized and overpasses were built for the intersections at both Eastern (Pest) and Western (Buda/Óbuda) ends of Árpád Bridge. This was planned and executed in connection with the expansion of the adjacent ''Róbert Károly körút'' (further sections also called ''Hungária körút'' and ''Könyves Kálmán körút'' as well) to 2×3 lanes and double tramway tracks . The project was called Hungária körgyűrű (English: ''Hungária Beltway''), although the last third of the belt (''Könyves Kálmán körút'') was finished only around the millennium, years after the completion of Lágymányosi Bridge at the other end of the planned beltway.

References

External links