Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
from the surrounding streets - as epitomized by the
Rumbach utca Synagogue
. Built by
Otto Wagner in 1872, for the so-called “Status Quo” or middling-conservative Jews, it now
belongs to the Neolog community and stands restored but empty. Decorated in violet, crim-
son and gold, its octagonal Moorish interior hosts occasional exhibitions and concerts. As a
plaque outside notes, the building served as a detention barracks in August 1941, from where
up to 1800 Slovak and Polish refugees were deported to the Nazi death camps.
Király utca
The official boundary between Terézváros and
Erzsébetváros
runs down the middle of
Királyutca
, once the main street here before Andrássy út was built. In the 1870s it contained
fourteen of the 58 licensed brothels in Budapest, and as late as 1934 Patrick Leigh Fermor
wastoldthat“anymancouldbeacavalierforfivepengöes”here.Afterdecadesofshabbyre-
spectability under Communism the street is undergoing a revival, with numerous cafés, bars
and restaurants popping up here, plus interior design and furniture boutiques.
Gozsdu-udvar
At Király utca 13, a grey stone portal leads into the
Gozsdu-udvar
, a 200m-long passageway
built in 1904 and running through to Dob utca 16. Connecting seven courtyards, it was a hive
of life and activity before the Holocaust; after many years of dereliction, it has now been
sensitively redeveloped and new restaurants, café and bars once again populate this atmo-
spheric space, as well as a terrific Sunday flea market. As you walk down the Gozsdu-udvar,
you cross the
Madách Walk
(Madách sétány), a controversial plan to modernize the dis-
trict through the creation of new apartments, shops and restaurants. The Walk runs parallel to
Király utca, stretching from Madách tér on the Kiskörút through to the Nagykörút, though it
has only reached Kazinczy utca so far.
Dob and Kazinczy utcas
These two streets form the axis of the 3000-strong Orthodox community. At Dob utca 22 the
Frőhlich
patisserie is a popular haunt for locals and visitors, while further along there's a
kosher butcher at no. 35. Down to the right on Kazinczy utca are a kosher baker and pizzeria,
opposite the kosher
Carmel
restaurant. The recent pedestrianizing of this section of the street
makes it all the more enjoyable to wander around.
Orthodox Synagogue
VII, Kazinczy utca 29 • Sun-Thurs 10am-3.30pm, Fri 10am-12.30pm • 1000Ft
Looming over the middle of Kazinczy utca is the
Orthodox Synagogue
, built by Béla and
Sándor Löffler in 1913 in the Art Nouveau style, with a facade melding into the curve of the
street, and an interior with painted rather than moulded motifs. A smaller wood-panelled syn-
agogue for winter use, a
yeshiva
and the
Hanna
Orthodox kosher restaurant are all contained
within an L-shaped courtyard that can also be entered via an arcade on Dob utca.
