17 BUDAPEST

budapest

Váci utca (Váci Street) is one of the main pedestrian thoroughfares and perhaps the most famous street in downtown Budapest. It features many restaurants and shops catering primarily to the tourist market.

Reconstructed in 2015-16, Széll Kálmán

Square (known as Moszkva tér or Moscow

Square between 1951 and 2011) is one of the city's busiest transport interchanges on the Buda side of the capital.

OUR WORLD–WITHOUT US

BY RÉKA A. FRANCISCK

Before the pandemic hit the world, I was admiring the works of those photographers who made their career out of shooting empty spaces, neglected and vacant buildings and deteriorating sites, such as Romain Veillon or Brian ‘Preciousdecay.’ I found beauty in those haunting images. I never imagined that one day I will witness my own city turning into a ghost town… As most of us were practicing social distancing during the past few months, our beloved meeting places, cafés and restaurants, along with practically all public spaces in the city, emptied. Again, I saw haunting images, this time capturing Budapest’s famous landmarks, totally deserted, in which I saw no beauty at all. It felt uncomfortable to stare at a completely empty Andrássy Avenue, to see Fisherman’s Bastion without tourists. These photos depicting the absence of people reminded me of postapocalyptic movies (without the bomb or the aliens) which I’ve never fancied watching. Our world, without us, is not nice.

The outer section of Andrássy Avenue between Octogon and Heroes Square. Dating back to 1872, the road is lined with spectacular Neo-renaissance mansions and townhouses.

budapest

The Fisherman’s Bastion in the Buda Castle provides a spectacular view of the city. Its seven high-pitched stone towers symbolize the seven chieftains of the Hungarians who founded the country in 895.

Located in the heart of Budapest, Fashion Street, which defines itself as Middle-Eastern Europe's most prestigious shopping and lifestyle destination for Ladies&Gents, is full of visitors in non-pandemic times.

Erzsébet Square, downtown Budapest’s largest green area, bore the name of Stalin and Engels during the communist era. Renovated in 2006, the square is a popular meeting point - especially for young people. Designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark and built by Scottish engineer Adam Clark in the middle of the 19th century, the Chain Bridge was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Hungary.

Sitting on the southern tip of the Castle Hill, the Buda Castle, first completed in 1265, has a lot to offer visitors. Next to the historic buildings, there are cozy alleys also worth discovering.