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Name:
Szentendre. The name is even translatable: In English it would be St. Andrew (szent = holy). The name derives from the
parish church with the same name and was used since the Middle Ages.
Location:
Szentendre lies in the central part of Northern Hungary and stretches along the right (western) bank of the river
Danube. →Budapest is only 20 km away to the south. The area in and around
Szentendre is rather hilly, which makes it an interesting place.
Population: appr. 20,000.
Orientation:
The town stretches along the rivershore, but wide parts of the old town tower over the river Danube on the top
of a hill. The train station is outside the old town in the south. From there, visitors first have to pass an
underground passage and than walk along Kossuth Lajos utca. After a while, there's a tiny river.
From there, walk along Dumtsa Jenõ utca (a few metres behind the river on the right there's the
tourist information). After a while you will see the central square called Fõ tér.
Further to the north on the top of the hill, there's the Templom tér (Church Square) with
a church attached to it. A few metres away from Church Square there's the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The old town mainly consists of very narrow and scenic lanes and many churches. And even more tourists.
Day by day, countless hords of tourists flock through the ppr old town. Because of that, there are also many souvenir shops
and other appropriate facilities. Szentendre shouldn't be missed, but many travelers will be glad when they can leave this overcrowded
place.
History:
Centuries ago, especially during the 17th century, many people fled from →Serbia
because of the advancing Ottomans. And so many Serbs decided to settle in a small town north of the capital
→Buda. Soon they built their own churches and started trading.
Visitors will soon notice that the atmosphere in Szentendre is different to other Hungarian towns. Artists seem to love that, and
so the town became very popular with artists. In the centre, it rather looks like a village than a town. But there are seven churches
and 14 museum and galleries in town. Especially during the weekends, day trippers from Budapest heavily outnumber the
citizens of Szentendre.
Getting there:
The best way to get to Szentendre are the HÉV (Budapest's local traffic company) commuter trains from
→Budapest. Most of the trains start from Batthyány tér subway station.
Halfway, the train stops in Aquincum (the old Roman ruins of Budapest). The ride takes 40 minutes only, the fare is less
than 200 ft. From Szentendre, buses run along the Danube to the north to
→Visegrád (45 minutes) and as far as →Esztergom (1½ hrs,
around 500 Ft.). The bus station is adjacent to the HÉV-station.
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