Andrássy Avenue

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and **Andrássy Avenue**^a
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Hungary
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv
Identification	#400
Region^b	Europe and North America
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	1987 11th Session
Extension/s	2002
a Name as officially inscribed on the WH List b As classified officially by UNESCO

Andrássy Avenue or Andrássy út (lit. Andrássy Road) is the most representative road of Budapest, Hungary, connecting Erzsébet tér with City Park. It is mostly flanked by Eclectic-Neo-renaissance palaces with fine facades, staircases and interiors, and it is part of the World Heritage.

1 History
2 Main parts
3 Notable spots
4 External links

[edit] History

Andrássy Avenue with the Hungarian State Opera House (left side) 1896

It was decreed to be built in 1870, to discharge the parallel Király utca from heavy traffic and to connect the inner city parts (see Belváros) with Városliget through Terézváros. Its construction began in 1872 and the avenue was inaugurated on August 20 (a national holiday), 1867. It 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) 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.

The construction of the first underground in Continental Europe was proposed in 1870, since the capital had always been against any 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 celebrations of Hungary.

[edit] Main parts

Andrássy Avenue

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, including residential areas and universities.
From Kodály körönd to Bajza utca: it is even more widened, and residential palaces are fronted by small parks.
From Bajza utca to Városliget: the same width; villas encompassed by gardens, included among a couple of embassies.

[edit] Notable spots

Andrássy Avenue marked brown in the map of Budapest

Post Office Museum
Hungarian State Opera House
Drechsler House
The Pest Broadway: a junction with four exquisite theatres at its four corners
Franz Liszt square: a square with the Academy of Music and a multitude of cafés
Jókai tér
Oktogon: junction with Grand Boulevard
House of Terror (Terror Háza): commemorating the two main oppressing regimes in Hungary, Fascism and Communism, and their victims (website, ÁVH)
Franz Liszt Memorial House and the old Academy of Music
Zoltán Kodály Memorial House
Puppet Theatre
Old Palace of Art
College of Fine Arts
Ferenc Hopp East-Asian Art Museum
Heroes' Square (Hősök tere): the entrance of Városliget, with the Millennium Monument, the Palace of Arts, the Museum of Fine Arts