Pest (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈpɛʃt]) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the eastern bank of the Danube.
Comprising about two-thirds of the city's area, Pest is flatter and much more heavily urbanized than Buda.
Many of Budapest's most notable sites are in Pest, including the Inner City (Hungarian: Belváros), the Parliament (Országház), the Opera, the Great Market Hall, Heroes' Square, and Andrássy Avenue.
[citation needed] Alternatively, the name Pest may have come from a Slavic word meaning "furnace", "oven" (Bulgarian пещ [ˈpɛʃt]; Serbian пећ/peć; Croatian peć), related to the word пещера (meaning "cave"), probably with reference to a local cave where fire burned.
During the Middle Ages, Pest was an independent city separate from Buda/Ofen, which became an important economic center during the 11th–13th centuries.