Aquincum

Budapest is a very ancient and young city at the same time. In the Roman era, the River Danube was the Eastern border of the empire for several hundreds of years. The name of the significant town lying in the current area of Obuda was Aquincum, which means „rich water” in the Eravisc language of Celtic origin. This town was the centre of Eastern Pannonia province between 10 B.C. and 409 A.D. At the beginning, 6000 soldiers were garrisoned here, and the total population of the two (military and civilian) towns grew to around 40 thousand by the 3rd century. Aquincum was raised to the rank of „colonia” by Emperor Septimus Severus in 194 A.D. The well-organized towns had 3-11 meter wide streets, and they built more and more private baths and heated villas, in addition to the military and civilian baths. The town had two open-air theatres, i.e. amphitheatres, which was quite a rare thing. After the influx of the Hungarians, the Roman ruins were used for constructions, or they built on top of them. The Roman ancestors were forgotten. The first remnants were only uncovered in the 1770s. Several sites, including a 106 x 90 meter viceroy’s palace had to be buried again after its discovery and detailed documentation, because it could not be presented and maintained.

Aquincum Museum (3rd distr. Szentendrei str 139.)
Public transport: Take local train HEV, Bus No. 34, 42, 106.
The museum showing the excavated parts of the former civilian town of Aquincum was opened in 1894. It is only open from the spring to the autumn. It currently is a part of the Budapest Historical Museum. The highlights of the collection, which has around half a million items, are the carved stones, the fresco collection, and a reconstructed, water-operated organ, which was made in 228. Since 2005, there are two „chronoscopes” set up in the area, they were developed by Hungarian engineers. If you look into them, you can see what was there instead of the ruins, according to the current view of historians. (Further information: www.aquincum.hu)

Other Sights

Amphitheatre of Military Town (Nagyszombat str 5.) It is an open-air theatre of significant size, which could host approximately 12, 000 people at the same time. It was excavated in 1925. Its stage is larger that that of the Roman Colosseum: 89 x 66 meters. It also had a water drainage system, so it was suitable for sea battles as well. It had 24 entrances altogether.

Amphitheatre of Civilian Town (Szentendrei str, at the Esztergom railway) The smaller amphitheatre had a capacity of 6-7000, and it had covered boxes as well. It was excavated between 1879 and 82 — it hid under a hill until then.

Thermae Maiores (Flórián square, below the overpass) The excavated ruins of the military bath have been open for the public since 1985. They were integrated into an underground passage. It has surprisingly large dimensions and clear explanations on the signs.

Aquaeductus (along Szentendrei str) The 4.5-kilometer-long waterpipe system, which was running on top of a line of carved pillar stones, had a 0.04-0.05 angle of gradient. Only some parts remained.

Hercules Villa (Meggyfa str 19-21.) The 14-bedroom villa was finished in the late 2nd and early 3rd century. It was named after the images on the mosaic floor. It is open for the public from spring to autumn.

Contra-Aquincum (Március 15. square) The Eastern, i.e. the Pest side of River Danube also had some forts that were guarding the Empire and some important crossing places by the river. The 85 x 86 meter building became the core of Medieval Pest. Its Southwestern corner tower was excavated during the construction of Erzsebet Bridge.