Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
known, was
the
place to get your Western-style clothes. Now it sells the real thing, Western
clothes as produced by the Spanish fashion company and aimed at the younger market.
Another early twentieth-century building, the former
Bank Palace
, stands at the southern
end of the square on the corner of Váci utca. When the Budapest
Stock Exchange
reopened
its doors in 1990, this was its new home. Built in the heyday of Hungarian self-confidence
by Ignác Alpár, who also designed the prewar
Stock Exchange
on Szabadság tér, it has now
been turned into a major retail centre.
Váci utca and around
Váciutca
has been famous for its shops and
korzó
(promenade) since the eighteenth century.
During the 1980s, its vivid street life became a symbol of the “consumer socialism” that dis-
tinguished Hungary from other Eastern Bloc states. It's now prime tourist territory, hence the
endless souvenir shops, not to mention the myriad hawks and hustlers endeavouring to entice
visitors into their restaurants and bars.
Today the northern half of the street, down to Ferenciek tere, has at least gained a touch
of style from a number of outlets for big Western fashion names. Moreover, there are a few
landmarks along the way that might catch your eye: the scantily clad
Fisher-girlfountain
on
Kristóf tér
; the
Pest Theatre
(no. 9) on the site of the
Inn of the Seven Electors
, where the
12-year-old Liszt performed in 1823 - note also the gorgeous Art Nouveau florist's and the
former
Auction House
(no. 11a), with its Gothic Revival facade of majolica tiles and toothy
wrought-ironwork.
An underpass further south brings you out on Március 15 tér, where a weird stone
monu-
ment
resembling a giant cactus flower commemorates the 125th anniversary of the unific-
ation of Buda and Pest. Beyond here, the pedestrianized continuation of Váci is infested
with tourist-trap restaurants and shops, but retains some imposing architecture: worth a look
are the prewar
Officers' Casino
(no. 38) guarded by statues of halberdiers (now a bank's
headquarters), and the sculptural
plaque
on the wall of no. 47, commemorating the fact that
the Swedish king Charles XII stayed here during his lightning fourteen-day horseride from
Turkey to Sweden, in 1714. Further along at nos. 62-64 looms the red-brick, griffon- and
majolica-encrusted
Budapest City Hall
, where the city council still meets.
Serbian Orthodox Church
Szerb Ortodox templom • V, Szerb utca 2-4 • Daily 10am-5pm if staff are available to open it • 300Ft • High
Mass on Sun 10am
A left turn off Váci utca into Szerb utca brings you to the
Serbian Orthodox Church
, built
by the Serbian artisans and merchants who settled here after the Turks were driven out. Se-
cluded in a high-walled garden, it's best visited during High Mass on Sunday, when the
