10 interesting facts about Hungary

Hungary is a very cool country in the heart of Europe. You may know quite a few things about it, but here is a lits of 10 interesting facts about Hungary that you may have never heard about.

1) Interesting facts about Hungary – Did you know that Hungarians have their own cowboys?

They are called ‘csikós’ in Hungarian. They live and entertain the visitors with amazing horse shows on the Hungarian Great Plain called the ‘Puszta‘.

2) Interesting facts about Hungary – Did you know that Hungary is one of the oldest countries in Europe?

It was founded in A.D. 896, before France, Germany or England.

3) Interesting facts about Hungary – Did you know that the Hungarian Parliament is the 3rd largest parliament building in the world?

It has 691 rooms, 20 kilometers of stairs and 40 kilograms of 23-carat gold was used on its interior decoration. It is also the largest building in Hungary.

4) Interesting facts about Hungary – Did you know that Budapest was almost named Pestbuda?

Budapest was born when three cities, Buda, Pest and Óbuda (Old Buda) were united, and at first the founders had different ideas about what they should name the new city.

5) Interesting facts about Hungary – Did you know that Budapest has the highest number of thermal springs in the world?

70 million liters of thermal water rise to the surface of the earth daily. Hungary has public bathing practices that go back to Roman times.

6) Interesting facts about Hungary – Did you know that Budapest is home of the largest synagogue in Europe, and the second largest one in the world?

Dohány Street Synagogue is so large that it can seat up to 3000 people.

7) Interesting facts about Hungary – Did you know that you can see the hand of the first Hungarian king in a church?

The mummified right hand of Saint Stephen, the first king of Hungary is displayed in the Saint Stephen Basilica in Budapest. When the body of King Stephen was exhumated, they found that his right hand was still in very good condition. The hand was later stolen and burried by a cleric who was supposed to guard it. Later it was recovered and transported around Europe, till Queen Maria Theresa purchased it and gave it back to Hungary.

8) Interesting facts about Hungary – Did you know that the first subway line of continental Europe was built in Budapest?

The Millenium Underground Railway line was constructed for the Millennium Celebration of 1896, commemorating the Hungarian Conquest of 896. It is the third oldest underground railway in the world after “Tünel” in Istanbul, and the London Underground.

9) Interesting facts about Hungary – Did you know that the Hungarian language has two words for the color ‘red’?

The two words are ‘piros’ and ‘vörös’. They can mean the same exact shade of the red color and still, for some reason, we don’t normally use both of them interchangeably with all the words. Blood is normally ‘vörös’, not ‘piros’. Wine is also ‘vörös’, not ‘piros’. A ball is normally ‘piros’ and not ‘vörös’. An apple is also ‘piros’, not ‘vörös’. But a rose can be ‘piros’ and ‘vörös’ as well.

10) Interesting facts about Hungary – Did you know that the Hungarian alphabet has 44 letters?

The Hungarian alphabet is unique in that it has some letters in it that are composed of more than one letter. For example the English ‘j’ sound from ‘jam’ is written as ‘dzs’ in the Hungarian alphabet, and it is considered one letter. If you learn the letters of the Hungarian alphabet, you’ll be able to pronounce every Hungarian word without a problem.

I hope you liked this article!

read more: https://eurama.hu/2017/03/08/interesting-facts/