Budapest: A Critical Guide

Standing in a vast space, not necessarily in a church. All of them were built in the third third of the 19^th century, when newly built Budapest wanted to impress it citizens and the world alike.

Inner City Parish Church (12^th century-1739)

Time especially strikes us, ordinary mortals here, in this "centaur church", the front of which is Baroque, the back is Gothic. Here, as elsewhere in Budapest, it is obvious, that fake revival interiors are more stunning than authentic ones. Just visit Mathias Church or Vajdahunyad Castle.

Great Synagogue (1858)

The tourist groups tend to rob you of that feeling, so try to arrive to a concert half an hour before the given hour. Then you may be alone with the feeling and the Oriental pomp.

Great Hall of Urania Cinema (1894)

Originally a cabaret, then a hall for science lectures. The style is neo-Moorish, yes, in Budapest. The second nicest cinema interior in Europe. (Yes, after Tuschinski, Amsterdam.)

Grand Market Hall (1895)

Five similar cathedrals of commerce were built at the same time, opened on the same day. This is the most grandiose of all, thanks to the incredible amount of air under the roof.

Former Supreme Court Foyer (1896)

Opposite the Houses of Parliament, now Museum of Ethnography, when there is no temporary exhibition here. Look up and ponder about the sombre frescoes on the ceiling. 

Parliament: the toilets with the highest ceiling (1904)

You are not eligible as an ordinary tourist, just as a guest at an award ceremony, or at a high profile conference. Directly opening from the space under the dome. There are two 8-meter high cylinders that include toilets opposite each other. In the vicinity of the Holy Crown.

Renaissance Hall of the Museum of Fine Arts (1906)

In the central axis, the second space after the entrance foyer. Its not just the height, but the permanent show of Renaissance Italian stone well rims, complete with the traces of ropes pulled along them hundreds of times.