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

Ferenc tér

Central Ferencváros, of perhaps all the neighbourhoods in this book, is the one that has changed the most in the lifetime of the square. The neighbourhood in the early 20th century was famous for its pubs, restaurants and cafes, many of them with large terraces or gardens, even on Soroksári and Üllői út. Looking at old photographs of the area, it’s easy to see why it was home to so many outdoor eating and drinking establishments. When Ferencváros was first laid out the Mester utca-Ferenc körút—Soroksári út area consisted primarily of agricultural lands. The area around Mester utca — after 19th century industrialization — still had a village-like atmosphere with characteristic architecture. Mester utca became — as its name to this day suggests — populated by craftsmen, small industrialists, and the like.

The street - Viola, Bokréta, Liliom, Páva, and other streets with similarly evocative names were characterized by small buildings of only a ground floor with generously-sized cobblestone courtyards and gardens. In the second half of the 19th century, two significant changes reshaped the social structure of the area. First, the traffic of ships with wheat and other grain cargo grew rapidly - these ships hailed to huge riverside mills, which can still be seen today. Also, several slaughterhouses were established in the southern part of this area. All of this contributed to Ferencváros coming to be called "the stomach of Budapest”. Secondly, numerous factories were placed near the railway tracks of Ferencváros railway station and on the riverbank, leading also to nearby ship docks on Csepel Island. As time passed and large-scale industry began to dominate, the population on Mester utca changed to become increasingly-impoverished factory workers and day labourers.

The painter Béla Szalmás (1908—61) painted more than one image of Ferenc tér. His paintings depict it as it was at the time, surrounded almost entirely by single-story, village-like dwellings. 1959's "Ferencz-tér" depicts a leafy square with houses 9, 10 and 11 in the background. Then "Ferenc-téri emlék” from i960 also shows the square's amazingly rural atmosphere of the time. Significant renovations began in the 1980s in the area between Üllői út and Mester utca. Tompa, Angyal, Liliom, Páva, Berzenczey, Bokréta and Viola were the streets that changed the most drastically. Major changes have happened more recently, as well, including Ferenc tér's complete revitalization.

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