Just like the name of the city, its territory is also divided into two - by the bluish ribbon of the Danube River. But there are actually three parts to it: the historical cities of Óbuda, Buda and Pest, the former two occupying the western bank, the latter the eastern one.

The most ancient urbanised form of today's bustling, modern Budapest was established by no other than the Romans in the first century AD. The Roman legions had conquered the region Pannonia (today's Transdanubia), and so the North Western part (Óbuda, meaning Old Buda) of the present capital town became home of their military and civic settlement. Ruins of stone walls, paved streets and sewers can still be seen in many places, further ones being excavated from time to time at building sites.

In the Middle Ages it was Buda, a town just south of Óbuda that played a central role in the administration of the Hungarian kingdom. The formidable royal castle towering above the Danube still breathes the air of this era.

Today's administrative center has, however, been shifted to the flat Pest side, with the neo-Gothic Parliament as its main symbol.

What ensures the connection between the three parts? Geographically it is the eight bridges spanning over the river, while from an administration point of view an 1873 act, which unified them under the name Budapest. Later several neighboring settlements were joined to the city, now altogether providing home for some 2 million inhabitants.