Hajógyári Island
| Nickname: Shipyard Island | |
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Colourful trees in autumn, not far from the K-Bridge
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 Hajógyári Island
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| Geography | |
| Location | Danube River |
| Coordinates | 47°33′14″N 19°03′18″E / 47.55389°N 19.05500°E |
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Hajógyári Island (Shipyard Island, for the shipyard that once operated there) or Óbudai-sziget (Óbuda Island, or Island of Old Buda) is the largest Danubian island in Budapest. Located in District III, it is a popular recreational area, year round. It is the home of the international Sziget Festival every August.
Hajógyári was created from the debris carried by the Danube River. It was originally a reef island made up of two adjoining land masses. The coast of Óbuda lies between the 1651 kilometer and 1654 kilometer river markers. It has an area of 108 hectares, a length of 2750 meters, and a maximum width of 500 meters, which is directly in line with the 1653 kilometer river marker. Obuda Island is separated by a 70- to 80-meter wide branch of the Danube. Not far from the northern end of the , the southern end of the Árpád Bridge connects Buda and Pest.
Originally known as Aquincum, by AD 89 it was home to a Roman legion of 6,000 men. A city grew around their fortress and became the capital of Pannonia Inferior in 106. By the end of the 2nd century, the population had reached 40,000. After 409, the Romans abandoned the area. A thousand years later, in the time of King Matthias Corvinus, it was a wooded hunting preserve, although many Romans ruins remained (and can still be seen there). In the 17th century, ownership passed to the Zichy family.
Its importance grew again in the 19th century, when Count István Széchenyi established the Óbuda Shipyard. The first ship made there was launched in 1836 and was called the Árpád-steamboat. Roman perimeter walls were first found in 1836 when the Otter Bay dredge deepened the shipyard.
Twenty-eight hectares (69 acres) of the island's area was occupied by the shipyard. The remainder of the island was converted to agricultural use. For a long time, access to the island was by ferry only. A pedestrian bridge was later constructed, and the first permanent bridge was built in 1858.
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Wikipedia