Finding out Budapest’s mosts is like a game of Trivial Pursuit. Which is the oldest building in Budapest? And the narrowest alley? Which major landmark was under construction for so long it outlived two of its architects? Here’s a trove of fascinating facts about the city we live in!
From oldest to tallest
Quite a few can compete for the honour of being the oldest building in Budapest. It depends on the criteria. Do the foundations count, like the Inner City Parish Church? How about remains? There’s part of a Roman wall right in the city centre on Március 15. tér.
If we’re only accepting entire properties, then the Vörös Sün ház (‘Red Hedgehog House’) on Hess András tér in the Castle District was built around 1260. Of course, it has evolved over the centuries, but the medieval origin is illustrated to the right of the gate, the semi-circular lock on the cellar door at the plinth, as well as the fact that the floor plan has changed very little. In addition, the building holds another record, as it was documented that it was the first two-storey house in Buda.
The narrowest house in town is in a very visible spot, usually passed by thousands of people every day: a residential property on Várkert rakpart near Elizabeth Bridge is only 6.20 metres wide, even narrower if measured from Döbrentei utca, 5.5 metres. This three-storey, Neo-Gothic curiosity was erected in 1898, at the behest of the Mandl brothers, Manó and Ármin, both grocers.
The largest building in the city is not Buda Castle, not even Parliament, but the 338-metre long communal block built in 1970 at Flórián tér in Óbuda, also referred to as the Village House. It contains a total of 885 flats with at least 3,000 people living in them: hence its name, the equivalent of a substantial village.
The tallest building in town – bearing in mind Budapest is not a city of skyscrapers – is an industrial building, the tower of the North Buda Heating Power Plant, 203 metres high. All towers over 100 metres tall can only serve industrial purposes in any case. Parliament and the Basilica are the tallest public buildings at 96 metres, followed by the Theoretical Department (NET) of Semmelweis University at Nagyvárad tér, the largest tower block in Budapest at 86 metres.
St Stephen's Basilica deserves the award for the city’s longest-running construction. The groundwork for this foundation was started as early as 1846, when József Hild drew up his plans in the Classicist style. However, due to the imminent revolution and the War of Independence, the laying of the foundation stone was postponed to 1851, before Hild’s death then delayed the work. When Miklós Ybl took over the design, he noticed that the supporting structure was cracked in several places and his fears were confirmed in 1868 when the dome collapsed. They could only continue construction after its demolition, by which time Ybl had also died, so the work was completed under József Kauser. The building was consecrated in 1905, the keystone put in place a year later in the presence of Habsburg emperor Franz Joseph. During its 60 years of construction, the citizens of Pest often teased each other by saying, of course, they would pay each other back the loan once the Basilica was ready...
Budapest’s most beautiful or most ugly is a matter of individual taste. But certain buildings definitely provoked huge controversy – either when they were unveiled or years later. You wouldn’t think so, but the Museum of Applied Arts designed by Ödön Lechner at the turn of the century was thought by many to be terribly kitsch and ridiculed as the palace of the Gypsy king, and even the emperor’s jaw dropped when he saw it. But there was also a lot of controversy surrounding the former MTESZ headquarters on Kossuth tér, especially recently, concerning its demolition, or the Duna Aréna sports pool, with the lack of correlation between the plans and the finished product.
Streets, squares and signs
Italianate passages, where your two shoulders can barely squeeze into facing walls, are not typical of Budapest, but even so, there are tight thoroughfares here as well. The narrowest we can find is Hegedűs köz on the edge of the Tabán, next to the Fairytale Museum. Finding it is even more difficult as it starts out from this nearby attraction, at lower street level.
The title of the longest road is indubitably won by Üllői út (once the road to Szolnok), which stretches for about 15 kilometres through the city, past some five districts. Its highest house number is 873, which is a local record in itself. By contrast, what is mockingly referred to only as the shortest avenue in the world – the stub of the planned Madách út – is today’s hipster headquarters of Madách tér. The ornate arch that opened the boulevard was still completed, but because of World War II, other plans remained in the drawer forever, Surrounding District VII escaped having a significant portion demolished – in return, however, Budapest lost a modern avenue. Traces of the planned route can still be discovered at Dob utca 46B.
If we look at the names, Ó utca takes first prize but the most renamed road is not very surprisingly today’s Andrássy út. When it was built, it was called Sugár út, after which it took the name of the famed prime minister, while still in his lifetime. With the change of political systems, Andrássy was replaced by Stalin. During the Uprising, it became Magyar Ifjúság útja after Hungarian youth then, from 1957, Népköztársaság útja after the People’s Republic. It was only after the most recent of régime, that it regained its current – and former – name of Andrássy.
Gül baba utca holds two records, possibly three: not only the steepest street in the city, but probably the most atmospheric, tiny houses lining cobblestoned streets. In addition, the tomb of Ottoman-era poet Gül baba at the top is the northernmost place of pilgrimage in Islam.
Most know the highest point of Budapest is 529-metre-high János Hill, once called Bratislava Hill, as it was claimed that in clear weather, you could see as far as there. The landmark seen from most places in Budapest, 100 altogether, is the Statue of Lady Liberty atop Gellért Hill, surprisingly visible from points such as Henszlmann Imre utca, which runs alongside Károlyi-kert in deepest downtown Pest or from Váci út, from the top of Lehel tér Church.
The most photographed point of Budapest, or at least the one with the most identical pictures, is the view of the Basilica from Zrínyi utca. The most beautiful transport route is tram 2, from Fővám tér to Jászai Mari tér, along the Pest embankment.
Competition for the title of oldest tree in the city is also debatable. Zsófia Viczián’s Budapesti fák – kéregbe zárt történelem (‘Budapest Trees – A History in Bark’) offers several options. Perhaps the oldest is the linden tree on Gazda utca in Pesthidegkút, which might be 250 or even 500 years old. The mulberry tree of Tabán or the famous sycamore of Margaret Island also lived to a ripe old age.
