RUDAS BATHS of BUDAPEST : 450 YEARS OF HOT MINERALWATER SINCE THE OTTOMAN TURKS : MINERAL WATER DRINKING CURE : WONDERFUL PLACES IN HUNGARY #33

OOOH.... The Ottoman Turks.... who killed two-thirds of the Hungarian population...Can we love something they left behind when they were defeated? (There are Moslems in Hungary and no doubt some of them are descended from the occupiers.) How about if we improve upon it?

Well, there's architecture and there's history. These baths have been used for 450 years and the water still flows. For some time the baths were men only but now you can select a time to emerge yourself with others of your gender or not. (No getting naked!) You can soak in some history as well as relax and emerge feeling better. 

RUDAS FURDO (RUDAS BATHS)

Excerpt:

The centerpiece of the bath today, the Turkish bath, was built during the 16th century in the period of the Turkish occupation. Below the 10 m diameter dome, sustained by 8 pillars, there is an octagonal pool. The swimming pool, operating as a therapeutic swimming facility and with a sauna, was built in 1896. The thermal bath has been visited from 1936 o­n exclusively by men.

In its drinking hall, the water of the springs Hungária, Attila and Juventus can be consumed for the purposes of a drinking cure.

The blog attached is rather fun... 

BATHS BUDAPEST  This site gives more details about gendered bath times and:

Excerpt: What makes Rudas Bath stand out is the modern rooftop panorama pool overlooking the river Danube and its many Budapest river cruise boats, the Parliament, the historical bridges and more. Also, Rudas Bath boasts a 16th-century thermal bath in its core, called the Turkish Bath.

Click on the label Wonderful-Hungary to get to the entire series on this theme.

C 2026 Magyar-American BlogSpot  All Rights Reserved

THE ENEMY AT THE GATE by ANDREW WHEATCROFT on THE SIEGE OF VIENNA IN 1683

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I have a confession to make. I didn't read this book cover to cover as I usually do before posting. But I can say that all the positive reviews are right. It really is riveting!  I just had one interruption after another as I tried to read it and I think this book takes some deep concentration to grasp the details of battles and all the various historical characters. But, just because this isn't the best time for me to read it, doesn't mean you can't. I think it's one for the shelf of anyone interested in the history of Hungary and thereabouts.

Author Wheatcroft assures us that both sides claimed victories and both war-craft and heroism are emphasized. It is rich with descriptions of the Ottoman's tent-cities, the taking of slaves - those from Royal Hungary were especially prized. This battle was a pivotal one because, after it, the Ottoman Turks were not able to further expand their empire into Europe. It was the first time that the Holy Roman Empire (Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I) and the Polish Lithuanian Commonweath, under the command of King John III Sobieski together went against the Ottoman Turks (Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha)and their empire. To this day, when someone tells me that they consider the Poles and the Hungarians to be 'friends' I know that idea comes from their collaboration in war.

***

As you may have seen, some of the earliest heraldic crests that identify noble families have images of success against the Turks. The armies that went against the Turks were quite outnumbered. There was tremendous sacrifice of life.  It was a war for dominance, but not just for land, but also for religion. 

I am so weary of violence, destruction, war, on this planet. Maybe it's simply a fact of life on earth and will never end. Like plagues have, the loss of men who went to war dramatically allowed the marriage or remarriage between classes of people and inheritance.

C 2026 Magyar American BlogSpot  Book Recommendation  

All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights

LOST TOMB OF SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFENT UNEARTHENED IN SOUTHERN HUNGARY?

DISCOVERY NEWS - ARCHEOLOGY - SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT
by Rossella Lorenzi

Moslem Hungary.... Ottoman Empire...the ruler sires 1000 children...or more... (Maybe YOU have some of his DNA?)

Excerpt:

Turbék started out as a shrine over Suleiman’s burial in the 1570s and thrived as a holy town until its destruction by the Habsburg army in the 1680s.

‘For Allah’ Inscription Found on Viking Era Ring
During a dig carried out in October and November, Pap and colleagues unearthed a rectangular building with wide walls built from bricks and stones.

Covered with stone tiles, the building had a large central room, about 26 by 26 feet. A robber pit in the middle of the structure suggests it was plundered in the late 17th century.

Some decorative elements remained intact and match in style the decorations in Suleiman’s mausoleum in Istanbul.

Intact, Packed Etruscan Tomb Found

“Currently everything suggests that this building could have been Suleiman’s tomb,” the researchers wrote.

ISIS - TURKEY - THE THREAT TO HUNGARY : OTTOMON EMPIRE? HUNGARIAN MERCENARIES?

For Hundreds of years the Moslem Turks controlled the country that would become Hungary. Their empire was called the Ottoman Empire. Before the country could be founded on Christianity, and align itself with Rome and Western Europe, these Turks had to be driven out. The fighting went on and on, and today there remains the ruins of many a castle fort that managed to do just that in the late 14th and early 15th centuries

This is why, when you look at the Coat of Arms and Shields of early aristocratic families of Hungary you will see images such as bloody swords and even the beheaded Turk.

Hungary became a Christian nation, a Roman Catholic dominated one, which made the country affiliated with The Church and the rest of Europe rather than a Slavic and Eastern Orthodox nation, like Russia. No doubt there have been and are people of these other faiths in Hungary, sometimes living in colonies or villages. Travelers to Budapest in the 19th century remarked on the ethnic and religious diversity of the city, as seen in the clothing that identified people of different ethnic groups and faiths.

I was thinking about all this in the morning as I listed to talk radio and dressed for the day. I thought about it because I heard that ISIS wants to make inroads next into Turkey. Clearly ISIS has the plan to have influence not only in Turkey but all of Europe, and the usual route in the Middle East is around the Mediterranean Sea.

Here is one article from CNN that asks if Turkey will battle ISIS on the ground.

CNN OPED: TURKEY ISIS OR PKK?

The article begins thus : Turkey is in a tough spot. It has ISIS militants threatening the Syrian border town of Kobani, inching ever closer to confronting Turkish security forces. In addition thousands of Syrian Kurds, fleeing ISIS attacks, have massed along its border, adding further to Ankara's troubles.


Amid mounting pressure to become more active in the U.S.-led international coalition against ISIS, the Turkish parliament last week overwhelmingly authorized its military to make incursions into Syria and Iraq; also to allow foreign troops to operate out of Turkish bases. The move has been greeted in Western capitals as a welcome sign that Turkey is finally fully on board with the anti-ISIS coalition.

Though beheading was practiced not only by the Ottoman Turks but the Hungarian's who fought for a nation to be, and more recently was, during the French Revolution, practiced by machine using the Guillotine, as well as in South East Asia in the 1960's, I have to say that I think this method of killing to be especially horrible.

Here in the United States, our FBI is asking citizens to help identify ISIS members who appear in videos, some with American or British English accents, and say they know the identities of a number of Americans who have left the country to fight the ISIS cause in other countries.

I ask myself, should such people be allowed back in.
My personal answer is, no. Anyone who is a terrorist should not be let in or let back in.

Here is one website that is covering the issue of Hungarian men who have joined ISIS and it is presented by the controversial JOBBIK party of Hungary.

JOBBIK ON WESTERN AND HUNGARIAN MERCENARIES

First thing I must note is that the term MERCENARIES is used, indicating that these are soldiers who are without personal allegiance but who work as soldiers for pay. There is a difference. Is the term used correctly?


Here is an excerpt from that article:

He added that, considering the gravity of the situation, the worrying news prompted Jobbik to turn to László Kövér, the Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament and Zsolt Németh, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee to summon the foreign affairs and the national security committees of the Parliament. The politician pointed out that the activities of these people had been followed by the Counter Terrorism Centre and the national security services of Hungary, and the Parliament should be informed who they are, what is the purpose of their staying in the area and/or serving in the ranks of ISIS. Jobbik also wants to find out what national security risks are posed by the activities of these persons in the ranks of ISIS.

The patriotic party expects correct information from the national security services, and responses from László Kövér and Zsolt Németh as well.\

C 2014 Magyar- American BlogSpot