It was funded to a considerable extent by the Greek merchant Georgios Sinas[3][4][5] who had financial and land interests in the city and whose name is inscribed on the base of the south-western foundation of the bridge on the Buda side.

The lions at each of the abutments were carved in stone by the sculptor János Marschalkó [hu] and installed in 1852.

In World War II, the bridge was blown up on 18 January 1945 by the retreating Germans during the Siege of Budapest, with only the towers remaining.

The bridge appears in the opening shots of the 2021 Black Widow trailer, and season two of Baptiste.

The bridge featured prominently in Matthew Barney's Cremaster 5, serving as a reference to Harry Houdini, and also appears in Dan Brown's novel Origin and in Syfy channel's 12 Monkeys Season Two premiere episode in April 2016.