Budapest's Margaret Island sits in the middle of the Danube River as it runs through the City. The island was once settled during the Medieval period as a religious center, but during more recent history has evolved into a verdant reprieve - filled with parks, gardens, recreation and cultural facilities utilized by the whole city - similar to New York's Central Park.
One of the main landmarks of Margaret Island is its famous water tower. Constructed in 1911, it was designed in a stunning Art Nouveau / Secessionist style by the Hungarian architect Rezső Vilmos Ray. Ray remarkably achieved both the functional utility of reliable water supply to the island, while also creating a breathtakingly beautiful lookout tower designed to give visitors sweeping views:
The 187 foot (57 meter) high water tower has a capacity of 158,503 gallons (600,000 liters), and was remarkably also the first building in Hungary to make use of reinforced concrete, a new technology at the time.
The beauty of the architectural expression of the water tower has made it a universally cherished local landmark. It has been incorporated into a marvelous new open air theater and underwent a renovation in 2012. It is open to visitors to this day as a lookout tower.
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