Buza Péter: Bridges of the Danube - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1999)

state after the destruction caused by the Mongols, probably also took into account that the west bank offered a hill suitable to build a fort impregnable to light cavalry. He established the layout of the town which is still characterized by a concentric- radial pattern. The rings connected by radial thoroughfares run from bank to bank on both sides of the river.

These arteries radiating out of the rings link the entire country to this center. It is no exaggeration to claim that the location of the Pest-Buda ferry on the Danube which offered the easiest crossing here greatly affected the structure of the whole country. This is all the more true since this was the site of the first continuous link in the country, the pontoon bridge and later that of the Chain Bridge. The latter was to be the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Hungary, not only establishing a firm link between Pest, Buda and Óbuda but also integrating the two halves of the country.

In the beginning was the ice...

But the time was not yet ripe for bridges. At first the river was crossed by various floating devices. For several months of the year, however, not even these were necessary. At low water-levels crossing could be effected by coach or even on foot. From the Middle Ages on, until the construction of defences on the banks at the end of the 19th century, the frozen river offered a comfortable walkway each year. The ice usually persisted from December through February. The municipal authorities themselves checked whether the conditions permitted the crossing. Paths were designated on which the ice was further reinforced and covered with straw in order to make the venture less dangerous. Needless to say, this was not a free service. Citizens were required to pay for the trip. In the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th, when the toll of the pontoon bridge was 1 penny in summertime, 2

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