Váci utca
To the south of Vörösmarty tér starts Váci utca, which together with the
neighboring streets, is the chief shopping centre of Budapest, with many gift
and Eashion shops. It also contains some interesting buildings. For instance,
No. 9 used to be an inn (it was rebuilt in 1840 by József Hild), in the
banquet-hall of which the 11-year-old
Ferenc Liszt once gave a con- cert. Today
it houses the Pest Theater.
The façade of No.11 is covered with Zsolnay ceramics. Kristóf tér leads to
Martinelli tér where the Art Nouveau ornaments on the house at No. 5 strike the
eye, and further, behind the Baroque façade of the Serviette Church, we can see
the beautiful Baroque building of the Town Hall (9-11 Városház utca, V). It was
built between 1727 and 1735 to the designs of the Italian architect Martinelli
to house disabled ex-service men. Since 1894 it has been the Central Municipal
Town Hall.
The 190 meter (210 yds.) long façade with its 47 windows, surmounted in the
centre by the tower of the. former chapel, is an impressive sight. The
neo-Classic building at No. 7 Városház utca, now the Pest County Hall, was also
built in the first part of the nineteenth century. In its artistically designed
courtyard open-air concerts are held.