Margaret Island
The Cure
Margaret Island Spa has the most up-to-date facilities. The X-ray unit is worth special note for the full range of modern equipment it provides for all kinds of examinations. The clinical laboratory is thoroughly equipped with instrumentation for every conceivable clinical examination. The thermal waters of Margaret Island has proved helpful in the following conditions: joint and muscle disorders; some degenerative nerve conditions; convalescent therapy after fractures; some bone deformities and some disorders of the peripheral circulation. For rheumatic problems, the thermal water is effective partly through the use of therapeutic equipment and partly through the breakdown of the mineral substance which contain the key curative components. Through continued, regular treatments, good results can be obtained in case of degenerative post-inflammatory conditions of muscles, joints and intestines.
The Island
It is a 2,5 kms long island (0.965 km² in area) in the middle of the Danube in central Budapest, between the two city parts, Buda and Pest, beetwen Margit Bridge, designed by French engineer Ernest Gouin and built in 1872-76 by the Société des Bettignoles company of France. Some sculptures on the bridge were designed by the French architect Eiffel, and Árpád Bridge. It is the favorite place of sport lovers, especially of runners due to the excellent rubber-coated jogging track. Besides, the island also houses various sports establishments, like the Palatinus water park (the largest open-air swimming complex in Budapest), the Alfréd Hajós sports pool (where the European LC Championships 2006 was held), a tennis stadium and an athletics centre. There are numerous rare, valuable and protected plants, trees, rose gardens, real pleasures for the eyes.
The major landmarks are, among others, the Centennial Memorial (commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the city's unification), a small Japanese Garden with a mildly thermal fish pond, a tiny zoo featuring a wide range of exotic waterfowl among other animals, a fountain with background music (for example Strauss) and light show in summer, the Musical Fountain (in fact, a tower built for open-air concerts, renovated in 1936), and an octagonal Water Tower of 57 m (built in Art Nouveau style in 1911, today functioning as a lookout tower and an exhibition hall), of which the latter two were declared protected by UNESCO.
The island used to be called Rabbit Island (Nyulak szigete), and it received its current name after Saint Margaret (1242-1270), the daughter of the king Béla IV of Hungary. The island was dominated by nunneries, churches and cloisters until the XVIII. century, when it was chosen to be the resort of palatines. It was declared a public garden in 1908. There is a small chapel built in Historical style on the place of the former Premonstratensian monastery.