Pest - VII

The 7th district is where the Jewish Quarters with its synagogues and Blaha Lujza Square is situated.
We got a special tour in these quarters by a Hungarian woman (a friend of my friend) that could speak perfect Swedish.

Jewish Quarters:

The Great Synagogue in Dohány Street is the largest synogogue in Europe. It was completed 1859 in Moorish Revival style and is 75m long and 27m wide. The twin towers are 43 m tall each. I regret that we never went inside.

The Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs by Imre Varga in 1989.

The Orthodox Synagogue by Otto Wagner in the Jewish Quarters. Parts of it were destroyed during WW2, but it has still not been completely renovated.

Around the Jewish Quarters Budapest it feels more like a "normal" city than most parts of the Pest side, since it is more relaxed.

Many beautiful old buildings in the district has been torned down to make way for new buildings, something that some people try to prevent.

Another synagogue. You can buy kosher food and read signs in Hebrew in the Jewish Quarters.

A special nightclub/bar that was a nice and picturesque place to have a beer. Note the Trabant.

Uránia Nemzeti Filmszínház, a beautiful Venetian/Moorish cinema.

Blaha Lujza tér (Blaha Square):

On the square with this funny name we could find the legendaric New York Palace Hotel, right on the Grand Boulevard of Budapest.
Note the Swedish appearance in form of the Ikea sign.

It was originally built in 1894 to host New York Life Insurance Company and the New York Café. During the socialist times it was owned by the state and it started to fall into decay. But it was not completely renovated and reopened until 2006, 4 years after Boscolo Hotels bought it.

New York Café is famous because Bella Lugosi and some Hollywood stars used to hang out there, perhaps because of the 16 devilish fauns!