Az Andrássy út - Budapesti Negyed 1. (1993. nyár)
AHOGY VOLT - JALSOVSZKY KATALIN -TOMSICS EMŐKE Politika a főváros tengelyén
Summary A lthough it has had many different names throughout its past-,, Kőműves utca" (Mason street), „Sugárút" (the Avenue), „Sztálin út" (Stalin ave.), „Magyar Ifjúság útja" (ave. of the Hungarian Youth), „Népköztársaság útja" (People's Republic street) - the avenue is still known by its original and recovered name: as „Andrássy út". It was opened to the public in 1877, and since then has been to Budapest as the „Ring" is to Vienna, the „Unter den Linden" to Berlin, the „Nevsky Prospect" to Saint Petersburg or the „Ghamps Elysées" to Paris - a broad and airy main artery of a real metropolis, crossing the city 45 meter wide and two kilometers long. It has always been, ever since was opened, the Road - divided by lawns, promenades with benches offering a rest, crossings expanding into squares with their frequently removed monuments, as political changes pass by leaving behind their reminders. The road, which as a way of escape takes the tired pedestrians out of the noisy and crowdy downtown into the City Park, i.e. the relaxing, green asylum with its public entertainments: the zoo, the circus, the merry-go-round, the skating rink and the museums. It has always been the Road - at its beginning lined with the compact rows of early eclectic buildings on both sides, non of them higher than four storeys. Behind each gate with the typical yard and hanging corridors running around each floor, the large and attractive staircases for the guests, and the hidden narrow stairs at the back for the servants and delivery men. It has always been the Road- around its midsection enlarged by double promenades and riding paths, the closely jammed houses slowly beginning to separate, and being replaced by palaces built either in neobaroque or neoclassicist style as well as charming villas surrounded by smaller or larger gardens. The rear portions of these buildings, used as flats for servants and stables for hourses, are once again hidden modestly; only the richly decorated entrances and staircases with their black marble columns and scarlet carpits could be seen by visitors. It has always been the Road - of shops and stores (among them one of the first large Budapest ready-to-wear stores: the „Divatcsarnok" - „Fashion Hall"), with its art schools and world famous Opera, as well as embassies; the road thus being at the same time a commercial mainline, a focus of culture and entertainment, and the umbilical cord connecting the country with the World.
