Kispest (lit. ''Little
Pest'') is the
19th (XIX) district of
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
. It lies south-southeast of the historical
Pest city. It was founded in 1871 on rural land as a village at the borderline of Pest, so it was named Kispest.
History
From 1880 to 1990 Kispest's population increased from 1820 to 72,838. Kispest became part of
Greater Budapest Greater Budapest is the name of Budapest in its present, extended size, as it was created by the ''Law No. XXVI of 1949'' passed on December 15, 1949 and it came into force on January 1, 1950. By attaching 7 towns and 16 villages to the former Budap ...
in 1950. When the Soviet troops re-entered Budapest to subdue the civil uprising in
October/November 1956, they approached the city centre from the south-east, up the
Üllői Street, with some of the first street clashes taking place in Kispest.
The huge
panel housing estate (Kispest
microdistrict
Microdistrict, or micro raion (russian: микрорайо́н, ''mikrorajón''), is a residential complex—a primary structural element of the residential area construction in the Soviet Union and in some post-Soviet and former Socialist ...
) was built between the 1960s and the 1980s (12,100 flats, c. 33,000 inhabitants, making it the sixth-biggest housing estate/microraion in Budapest).
Housing estates of Budapest (Index.hu, Hungarian)
/ref>
Wekerletelep
Wekerletelep is Kispest's suburb with detached houses and green areas. It was named after the Hungarian premier at the time of the development in the 1900s, Sándor Wekerle
Sándor Wekerle (14 November 1848 – 26 August 1921) was a Hungarian politician who served three times as prime minister. He was the first non-noble to hold the office in Hungary.
Biography
He was born in Mór to a Danube Swabian family, in ...
. Its central square, ''Főtér'', has two characteristic architectural gateways designed by the architect Károly Kós and based on Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...
n building style. In May every year a festival called ''Wekerle Days'' (Hu: ''Wekerle Napok)'' takes place. This involves fun run, sports events, concerts and various other cultural and family oriented programss for all age groups.
Public transport
The district is served by the Metro 3 ( Kőbánya-Kispest and Határ út stations), so there is direct connection with the city center. ''Határ út'' underground station is the third-busiest in the city (after Deák Square and Örs vezér tere) with an estimated 40,000 passengers using it (often twice) on a typical workday.
Sport
Ferenc Puskás played football for Kispest F.C. (then called Kispest Honvéd FC) in the 1950s.
* Budapest Honvéd FC, football team
* Kispesti Textil SE, defunct football team
Kispest NKK, women's handball team, NB1/B second league
List of mayors
Gallery
File:111kispesteste.jpg, The church of Saint Mary of the Assumption in Kispest
File:Budapest-Kispest 1.JPG, Kispest housing estate
File:Budapest-Kispest 2.JPG, A panel block next to Kőbánya-Kispest metro station
Notes
References
{{Authority control
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Urban planning in Hungary