Through Four Seasons' Eyes Budapest - IMEX America

Monuments
A testament to history
118
Dohány Street
Synagogue
Dohány Utcai
Zsinagóga
Europe’s second largest
synagogue stands where Dohány
utca meets the Kiskörút, a short
walk from focal Astoria or Deák
tér. Designed in Moorish Revival
style by Viennese architect Lajos
Förster, the Dohány utca (or
‘Great’) Synagogue, the model
for the Central Synagogue in
Manhattan, was renovated during
the 1990s. Bright brickwork
glows in blue, yellow and red, the
heraldic colors of Budapest. The
building is only one of several
key features in a complex that
also contains a modest Jewish
Museum and the Heroes’ Temple,
both dating back to 1931. A later
inclusion to the museum is a
Holocaust Room – the Synagogue
stood just inside the war-time
Jewish Ghetto, and among
the post-1945 additions to the
complex are a Jewish Cemetery
and the Raoul Wallenberg
Holocaust Memorial Park.
Fisherman’s Bastion
Halászbásztya
A stark white confection of
seven towers and a panoramic
terrace offering a perfect view
of the Danube and Pest beyond,
the Fisherman’s Bastion is the
romantic creation of Frigyes
Schulek. This late 19th-century
architect, having taken more than
20 years to complete the equally
romanticized reconstruction
of nearby Matthias Church,
set about work using existing
portions of an old fortress that
once stood behind it. Guarded
by a statue of St Stephen on
horseback, Schulek’s neo-
Romanesque vantage point
suffered extensive damage in
World War II. His son János was
head of the project to restore it
in 1948. Today the Fisherman’s
Bastion, while still providing
incomparable vistas of the
Hungarian capital, has become
a somewhat tacky tourist trap,
visitors are too often pestered
by peddlers of embroidery and
Gypsy music.
Great Market Hall
Nagyvásárcsarnok
Budapest’s largest indoor
market was completely restored
and reopened in 1994, almost
a century after its original
inauguration. Back then, an
underground canal used to
run from the river nearby,
taking barges through the
Main Customs Office (today the
Budapest University of Economic
Science) and into the market.
Habsburg Emperor Franz Josef
was one particular customer that
inaugural year of 1897. After the
war, the Market Hall remained in
operation – famously, Margaret
Thatcher paid a visit in 1984
to bargain for paprika – but
was in dire need of repair. The
three-year renovation cost Ft4
billion and was completed with
a bright and distinctive Zsolnay
tile roof. Today some 180 stalls,
selling more than just produce,
are spread over three floors,
attracting as many as 30,000
shoppers six days a week – the
market is closed on Sundays.