City of Baths

Few capital cities can claim to sit on hot water. Budapest does: springs rise along the edge of the Buda hills, and the people who lived there, from the Romans onward, built baths around them. This opening chapter explains where the water comes from, how long it has been used, and the three lenses the course uses to read the baths: as medicine, as habit and as social life. Figures, names and dates are from general knowledge and flagged for checking. Nothing here is medical advice.

Where the Water Comes From

Budapest lies where the hills of Buda meet the flat land of Pest, along a line of geological faults (check the geology). Rain and snow soak into the limestone and dolomite of the Buda hills, sink deep, are heated by the earth, and rise again along the faults as warm, mineral-rich water (check the depth and the temperature range). Many springs emerge close to the Danube, which is why so many of the famous baths are on the Buda side, and why the Széchenyi bath in Pest needed a deep well instead (see Chapter 4).

• The numbers. The city is often said to have over a hundred springs and several dozen thermal baths (check the current count and what counts as a "bath").
• The title. Budapest is often called the "city of spas" or "city of baths", a phrase that dates from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (check when it began to be used).
• The water. It is warm to hot, rich in dissolved minerals, and differs from spring to spring (see Chapter 8 for what is in it).

Roman Roots at Aquincum

The Romans founded the military camp and civil town of Aquincum in what is now the north of Budapest, in the first century (check the date), and used the local springs for baths. Remains of bath buildings, with heating systems under the floors, can be seen at the Aquincum site and nearby (check which remains are visible and what is in the museum). The Roman baths are the first sign in the record that the springs were used for bathing and not just drinking.

The Roman and the medieval phases are less well documented than the Ottoman one, which is why the course starts its long story of surviving buildings with Chapter 2.

A Short Timeline

Three Ways to Read a Bath

A bath in Budapest is more than a pool. The course looks at each one through three lenses, which often overlap:

1. Health. Bathing as treatment, with a doctor's recommendation and a long tradition of prescribed cures. This is the oldest argument for the baths and the one most open to debate (Chapter 8).
2. Habit. Bathing as a regular, ordinary activity: the morning swim, the weekly visit, the retired regulars. A bath is a neighbourhood fixture as much as a monument (Chapters 6 and 7).
3. Social life. The place to meet, play chess, hold a party or simply sit in warm water in conversation (Chapter 9).

The same bath can sit under all three. A visitor often meets only the third, a doctor the first, and a local the second.

Sources and How to Check Them

• Buildings. The baths themselves are the best source; many are open and keep original rooms (see Hungarian Architecture for the main buildings).
• Museums. The Aquincum Museum for the Roman period and the city's own museums for later periods (check the names and what is held).
• Operators. The baths' own websites give current rules, but they also sell tickets, so read them as promotion as well as information.
• Medical sources. Treat health claims with care and ask a doctor before relying on any (check).

Exercises