Everyone commemorates the 1956 Hungarian revolution against Soviet occupation in different ways. Given today is the October 23 memorial of this important event, we've selected 10 photos taken during the revolution that we can use to introduce some interesting things about the city. Perhaps it's a building that has since been demolished or restructured or a famous cafe that's either closed down or is indeed still open all these years later. Of course one thing is certain, these photos include plenty of cobblestones and tanks.

In the photo above we see the Astoria intersection during the battle. Opposite is Kossuth Lajos Street and the Astoria Hotel. In the photo we can see a pharmacy (in Hungarian "gyógyszertár"), later this was removed and in its place we can now find an arcade. In front of the building we see in this photo there are now entrances down to an underpass and stairs leading down to the Astoria metro station.

In this photo we see Blaha Lujza Square; in the middle we see the "Szabad Nép" headquarters, which was the Hungarian Communist Party's daily newspaper at the time. To the right was the National Theatre.

Szabad Nép was the predecessor to Népszabadság, it had an important role during the revolution of 56. The National Theatre building no longer exists at Astoria. It wasn't because of damage during the revolution that it was destroyed, but 9 years later when it was demolished by being blown up to make way for the building of the Blaha Lujza metro station.

A group of revolutionary rebels at Astoria on what is Károly Boulevard. In the background we can see the so-called MTA House. The Georgia house's façade retained characteristic rounded features and was built in 1939 according to the plans of Hültl Dezső. On the left is the Kicsi Espresso.

Alongside Corvin Quarter and Széna Square, Móricz Zsigmond Square was another site of serious fighting in the October of 1956. In the background we can see the "mushroom" hub that stood unchanged for decades and threatened to collapse until recent renovations.

An overturned and burnt-out vehicle at the intersection of Múzeum Boulevard and Bródy Sándor Street.
In the background, the Múzeum Cafe.

At Oktogon, at 49 Andrássy Avenue to be exact, we can see the word Abbázia clearly written above the main entrance. The coffee house is famous for its Brussels-style wall mirrors and onyx marble tabletops as well as its famous guests such as Lechner Ödön, Rippl-Rónai József, Szinyei Merse Pál, Fényes Adolf, Fadrusz János és Eötvös Károly. In 1949 the coffee house became state-owned and it continued to operate under the Abbázia Restaurant and Presso name.

This photo shows the corner of Rákóczi Road and Akácfa Street. We can clearly see a series of marks where bullets had hit the corner building. The burnt out vehicle is a Soviet-built BTR-152armoured personnel carrier.

At the corner of Rákóczi Road and Klauzál Street was the "Minőség Állami Áruház" (which means Quality State Department Store), which later became the Lottó Department Store. This building still stands, but like others in the area the ground floor has been transformed into an arcade.

Here we can see what was an empty plot at number 1 and 3 Rákóczi Road as well as the fire wall of number 5 in the background. We can also see the rig used during the build of the metro.

Near Blaha Lujza Square is the Szent Rókus Chapel, which was built in the 18th century. Many bombs hit it during World War Two, and then it also suffered serious damage during 1956. Its tower was repaired in 1957-58.