Though the official unification date was November 17, 1873, the city plans to celebrate from now until June 2009, with a series of programmes calling attention to past treasures and current developments, the mayor said.
He noted that some of the main attractions of Budapest will be available in 3D over the Internet, through Google Earth for the next few weeks.
The anniversary will also be a theme at the Budapest Christmas Fair.
Marking the anniversary Mayor Demszky awarded Keys to the City to famous Hungarians including philosopher Agnes Heller, businessman Peter Zwack, poet Ferenc Juhasz and the Olympic champion water polo team's coach Denes Kemeny.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
