The Tabán now consists of a pleasant park and a few historic buildings but was once very different. In the early 20th century this district, nestling between Castle Hill and Gellért Hill was a slum, cleared as part of a programme to improve the city. Only a few buildings, including Tabán Parish Church, escaped the demolition.

Natural conditions ensured that this was one of the first places in the area where people chose to live. The Celtic Eravi were the first to settle here, while the Romans later built a watchtower from which they could see people using a nearby crossing point over the river.

The first reference to bathing in thermal waters in Tabán dates from the 15th century. The Turks used this natural asset and built two magnificent baths here. These were the Rác Baths and the Buda Baths, around which a blossoming town flourished. Apart from the baths, almost everything was destroyed in the recapture of Buda in 1686. In the late 17th century, many Serbs referred to in Hungarian as Rács, moved into the Tabán after fleeing from the Turks.

Greeks and Gypsies joined them. Many of the inhabitants of the Tabán at this stage were tanners or made their living on the river. Cultivation of grapevines started on the hillside above. By the early 20th century, the district was still without proper sanitation. The old, decaying Tabán, with its many bars and gambling dens, was demolished and the present green space established in its place.