Gál Éva: Margaret Island - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2000)
lido bath was received its present shape in 1937, but it had a predecessor—the first Margaret Island lido built in 1921. The romantic, turreted locker-room building, the three large pools, the huge expanse of grassy and sandy sunbathing areas were perfectly adequate at the time, but, on account of the “natural decay of building materials and the impractical and cumbersome locker-room building”, as an article in a contemporary journal of architecture put it, a major overhaul was deemed necessary by the 1930s. Of the thirty-seven designs submitted to the tender competition announced in the summer of 1936, it was the work of György Masirevich and István Janáky which was accepted. The new Palatínus Lido Bath, already built by the summer of 1937, had locker rooms with a guest capacity of ten thousand and further pools, one with artificial waves. North of the lido bath we pass some tennis courts with the “Centre Court” among them; built in 1928 and surrounded by grandstands, this court often serves as the venue of national championships and international events. Continuing our walk, we soon reach the upper island proper, where the former baths complex had its headquarters, and which has largely the same functions of a holiday and resort centre that it had 100-150 years ago, except that its appearance has changed considerably. What can be regarded as the imaginary border of the upper island is the street lying across our path that now passes the Hotel Thermal and went past Ybl’s Margaret Baths in the past. At the westernmost end of this street there used to be a harbour, which was still in use in the middle of the twentieth century. If we continue in the same direction for a while longer, that is if we walk along the western bank, leaving behind a rather ill-assorted group of kiosks, bicycle and vehicle rentals, we reach a “Japanese garden” laid out in 1936. Although unimposing in its proportions, this well-tended garden is complete with rockeries, ponds with gold fish and water plants, colour ornamental shrubs, and an artificial waterfall built in 1870 as a feature of the bathing complex. Before the western side of the island was embanked, the cataract was right beside the bank (the 44
