Andrássy út
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Andrássy Avenue (, ) is a
boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former ...
in
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
,
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, dating back to 1872. It links Erzsébet Square with the Városliget. Lined with spectacular Neo-renaissance mansions and townhouses featuring fine facades and interiors, it was recognised as a
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
in 2002. It is also one of Budapest's main shopping streets, with fine cafes, restaurants, theatres, embassies and luxury boutiques. Among the most noticeable buildings are the State Opera House, the former Ballet School (under reconstruction for several years), the Zoltán Kodály Memorial Museum and Archives, the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, and the Ferenc Hopp Museum of East Asian Arts.


History

It was decreed to be built in 1870, to discharge the parallel Király utca from heavy traffic and to connect the inner city parts with the City Park. Its construction began in 1872 and the avenue was inaugurated on August 20 (a national holiday), 1876. Its realization was a blend of the plans proposed by the top 3 competitors Lajos Lechner, Frigyes Feszl and Klein & Fraser. Its palaces were built by the most distinguished architects (led by
Miklós Ybl Miklós Ybl (6 April 1814 in Székesfehérvár – 22 January 1891 in Budapest) was one of Europe's leading architects in the mid to late nineteenth century as well as Hungary's most influential architect during his career. His most well-known w ...
) of the time, financed by Hungarian and other banking houses. These were mostly finished by 1884 and mostly aristocrats, bankers, landowners and historical families moved in. It was named in 1885 after the main supporter of the plan, Prime Minister
Gyula Andrássy Count Gyula Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka (, 8 March 1823 – 18 February 1890) was a Hungarian statesman, who served as Prime Minister of Hungary (1867–1871) and subsequently as List of foreign ministers of Austria-Hungar ...
. The construction of the
Budapest Metro The Budapest Metro (, ) is the rapid transit system in the Hungary, Hungarian capital Budapest. Opened in 1896, it is the world's second oldest electrified underground railway after the City and South London Railway of 1890, now part of the Lon ...
, the first underground railway in Continental Europe, was proposed in 1870, since the capital had always been opposed to surface transport on this road. Construction began in 1894 and was finished in 1896, so this new metro line could facilitate the transport to Városliget, the main venue of the
millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...
celebrations of Hungary. The boulevard was renamed three times in the 1950s; a testament to the rapid political changes of the period. It became Sztálin út ("Stalin Street") in 1950 during the Soviet occupation. During the 1956 uprising it was renamed to Magyar Ifjúság útja ("Avenue of Hungarian Youth"). The following year the governing communists changed the name to Népköztársaság út (" People's Republic Street"). The former name of Andrássy was restored in 1990, after the end of the communist era. In September 2011, Secretary of State for Culture Géza Szőcs officially announced plans to build a new structure along Andrássy út close to City Park and near the existing Budapest Museum of Fine Arts and Budapest Art Hall (Műcsarnok). This building would house the collections of the current
Hungarian National Gallery The Hungarian National Gallery (also known as Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, ), was established in 1957 as the national art museum. It is located in Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. Its collections cover Hungarian art in all genres, including the w ...
. This expanded plan, which would utilize the entire boulevard, is referred to as the Budapest Museum Quarter or Andrássy Quarter. However, since that announcement the plans changed several times and have now been reduced to three new museum buildings in and around the city park.


Sections

Andrássy út consists of four main parts, from inside to outside as follows: # From Erzsébet tér to Oktogon: an urban-like part mostly for commercial purposes. # From Oktogon to Kodály körönd: widened with an
allée In landscaping, an avenue (from the French), alameda (from the Portuguese and Spanish), or allée (from the French), is a straight path or road with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each side, which is used, as its Latin source ' ...
, including residential areas and universities. # From Kodály körönd to Bajza utca: it is even more widened, and residential palaces are fronted by small gardens. # From Bajza utca to Városliget: the same width;
villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...
s encompassed by gardens, including a couple of embassies.


Notable Spots

* Hungarian State Opera House * Drechsler House * The "Pest Broadway": a junction of Nagymező utca with four exquisite theatres at its four corners *
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
square: a square with the Academy of Music and a multitude of cafés * Oktogon: junction with Grand Boulevard * Kodály körönd *
House of Terror The House of Terror (, ) is a museum located at Andrássy Avenue 60 in Budapest, Hungary. It contains exhibits related to the Government of National Unity (Hungary), fascist and People's Republic of Hungary, communist regimes in 20th-century H ...
(''Terror Háza''): commemorating the two main oppressing regimes in Hungary, Fascism and Communism, and their victims
website
ÁVH The State Protection Authority (, ÁVH) was the secret police of the People's Republic of Hungary from 1945 to 1956. The ÁVH was conceived as an external appendage of the Soviet Union's KGB in Hungary responsible for supporting the ruling Hun ...
) * Franz Liszt Memorial House and the old Academy of Music *
Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (, ; , ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education. ...
Memorial House * College of Fine Arts * Ferenc Hopp East-Asian Art Museum * Heroes' Square: the entrance of the City Park, with the Millennium Monument, the Palace of Art (Budapest), the
Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest) The Museum of Fine Arts (, ) is a museum in Heroes' Square (Budapest), Heroes' Square, Budapest, Hungary, facing the Kunsthalle Budapest, Palace of Art. It was built by the plans of Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herzog in an Eclecticism in ar ...
* Recently opened world-famous luxury fashion shops like Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Armani, Gucci and more


See also

* List of most expensive streets by city


References

*Derzsi Elekes Andor: Terézváros, Andrássy út 94 szám in: Metapolisz 802 Budapest, 2014,


External links


Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue
UNESCO Collection on Google Arts and Culture *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrassy Avenue Streets in Budapest World Heritage Sites in Hungary Andrássy family Landmarks in Hungary Tourist attractions in Budapest Urban planning in Hungary