Pest, Hungary

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.

Buda and Pest connected by Széchenyi Chain Bridge
View of the riverfront of Pest
Flag of Pest before 1873 [ 3 ]
Historical coat of arms of Pest, used between 1703 and 1873 [ 3 ]
Buda and Pest view from 1686
A map of Pest in 1758, published in 1830. Outside the city wall ran a country road, mirrored by today's Kiskörút completed in 1880, which forms a circular arc between Deák Ferenc tér and Fővám tér .