Budapest, the capital of Hungary, has survived storms of recurring power struggles for over 1,000 years: the total destruction of the city by the Mongols in 1241, capture by the Turks in 1541, the ravages of the Nazi and Soviet invasions during World War II, the havoc of the 1956 revolution, and the arrival of capitalism in 1989. The breadth of Hungary's history is evident in the city layout, with the majestic river Danube separating the hilly residential Buda from the more commercial plain of Pest.

In the heart of Central Europe, Budapest offers Lexia students a rich and fascinating base from which to study the changing and contrasting worlds of Hungary's past and present: a country of royal castles and socialist block houses, rural farmers and urban immigrants, vibrant folklore and the world's leading technical universities.