Through Four Seasons' Eyes Budapest - IMEX America

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use, and the ruins of Aquincum and its nearby
museum testify to the tremendous skill of
Roman engineers who built elaborate aqueducts
and drainage systems that helped foster a
f lourishing bathing culture.
Arrival of the Turks
When the Ottomans occupied Budapest from
1541 to 1699, they erected several of their own
bathhouses throughout the city. Two of these
remain, in part at least: the Király and Rudas
Baths still boast their original Turkish domes
and central pool structure. These baths have
men’s, women’s and mixed bathing days, where
guests have no qualms about shedding their attire
as they flit between steamy saunas and cooling
pools. Most impressive around high noon, the
central bathing hall of the Rudas is beautifully
lit by beams of sunlight, which filter through
the hexagonal holes in the domed roof, an effect
augmented by steam rising off the water.
The new millennium
Given that most of the city’s hundred or so
thermal springs originate in Buda, this is
also where you’ll find most of the city’s baths,
such as the Gellért connected to the four-star
hotel of the same name. Striking Secessionist
and neo-Classical details adorn the interior
bathing halls as well as the outdoor pools.