Faurest, Kristin: Ten spaces - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)

Ferenc tér

Ferenc tér

This square is bounded by Bokréta, Balázs Béla, Berzenczey and Tompa utca. One can enter it from the Great Boulevard along the axis of Tompa utca, which has in recent years undergone a revitalization that includes semi- pedestrianization, lots of planters and street cafés. The square was originally called Franz Platz, named just like its surrounding neighbourhood of Ferencváros for Francis I. It bisects the one time main street of the area. It also, some say, bisects the area between "old’’ and "new’’ streets, between old residents and newcomers.

In 1792 Ferencváros was named for the area outside and southward from the Kecskeméti gate. It's difficult to believe that it, like so many other parts of the city that are now considered to be central, once fell outside Pest's city walls (which ran along the line of today's Small Boulevard, also known by its individual sections of Károly körút, Múzeum körút and Vámház körút).

The settlement was already populated in 1838 when the most destructive flood in Pest's recorded history engulfed most of the city; red marble tablets commemorate the water level at nearby Viola utca 33 and Bokréta utca 32.

■ Looking down on Ferenc tér from a neighbouring block of flau

52