Óbuda and Buda Hills

Until its unification with Buda and Pest in 1872 to form the city of Budapest, Óbuda (meaning Old Buda) was a separate town that used to be the main settlement; now it is usually thought of as a suburb. Although the vast new apartment blocks of Budapest’s biggest housing project and busy roadways are what first strike the eye, the historic core of Óbuda has been preserved in its entirety. Living up to the “old” moniker, Óbuda is the site of the ruins of Aquincum, the Roman Empire’s border town and capital of the province of Pannonia. Besides the main archaeological dig, numerous pieces of Roman masonry can still be found along motorways and pedestrian underpasses, and the remains of not one, but two amphitheaters (one military, the other civilian) are preserved in public areas