Fact Finder - General Knowledge

Budapest is often called the 'City of Spas' because it sits on a patchwork of almost 125 thermal springs. These springs provide over 70 million liters of warm, mineral-rich water every day to the city’s many historic bathhouses, such as the neo-Baroque Széchenyi Baths and the Art Nouveau Gellért Baths. This geothermal activity is a result of a geological fault line that runs along the Danube River, which separates the hilly 'Buda' side from the flat 'Pest' side. Budapest is also home to the second-oldest underground railway in the world, the Millennium Underground (M1), which was built in 1896. The city's Great Synagogue on Dohány Street is the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world. With its dramatic Parliament building reflecting in the Danube and its 'ruin bars' located in abandoned pre-war buildings, Budapest serves as a major cultural and architectural bridge between Central and Eastern Europe.