Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
withshoppersvisitingthesupermarketinanoldmarkethallonthewesternsideofthesquare,
and commuters using the underground metro/HÉV interchange. On the southern side of the
square is a
statue
of a stern-looking Batthyány standing on a bow of a ship, erected, rather
belatedly, in 2008. The sunken two-storey building to the right of the market, meanwhile,
used to be the
White Cross Inn
, where Casanova reputedly once stayed. Many of the older
buildings in this area are sunken in this way owing to the ground level being raised several
feet in the nineteenth century to combat flooding. The views across to the Parliament build-
ing from the square are superb.
Church of St Anne
The twin-towered
Church of St Anne
(Szent Anna templom), on the southern corner of Fő
utca, is one of the finest Baroque buildings in Budapest. Commissioned by the Jesuits in
1740, it wasn't consecrated until 1805 owing to financial problems, the abolition of the Jesuit
order in 1773, and an earthquake. During Communist times there were plans to demolish the
building, as it was feared that the metro would undermine its foundations, but these, fortu-
nately, came to nothing. Figures of Faith, Hope and Charity hover above the entrance, and
in the middle of the facade St Anne cherishes the child Mary, while God's eye surmounts
the Buda coat of arms on its tympanum. The interior is ornate yet homely, the high altar fes-
tooned with statues of St Anne presenting Mary to the Temple in Jerusalem, accompanied by
a host of cherubim and angels, while chintzy bouquets and potted trees welcome shoppers
dropping in to say their prayers.
Military Court of Justice
Heading up Fő utca from Batthyány tér, on the left stands the hulking Fascist-style
Military
Court of Justice
(Fővárosi Katonai Ügyészség), so big that it consumes an entire block. It
was here that Imre Nagy and other leaders of the 1956 Uprising were secretly tried and ex-
ecuted in 1958, as indicated by the plaque on the wall facing the park. This square has now
been renamed after Nagy, whose body lay in an unmarked grave in the
New Public Cemetery
for over thirty years.
Király Baths
Király gyógyfürdő • II, Fő utca 84 • Daily 9am-9pm • 1 202 3688,
kiralyfurdo.hu
• See
The baths
for
more details
Aside from its crumbling, muddy-green facade, you can identify the
Király Baths
by the
four copper cupolas, shaped like tortoise shells, poking from its eighteenth-century facade.
Together with the Rudas, this is the finest of Budapest's Turkish baths; the octagonal pool,
lit by star-shaped apertures in the dome, was built in 1570 for the Buda garrison. The baths'
name, meaning “king”, comes from that of the König family who owned them in the eight-
eenth century.
