Zádor Anna: Neoclassical Pest - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1993)
At the end of the extremely short Szép utca, on the corner of Reáltanoda utca stands one of Pollack’s most beautiful works, the Almásy-Zichy House (Szép u. 6). The small one-storey palace was built by the master in 1817; it is decorated with beautiful architectural ornaments and with a pedimental hood moulding above its three-axled centre. The arrangement of the interior space is most peculiar here as well: apart from the entrance hall with its columns and majestic staircase, the carriage-house with a concave finish at the back of the courtyard is exceptional in this period. Not far from the Almásy-Zichy House, on the corner of Károlyi utca and Ferenczy István utca, stands a majestic multi-storey building known as the Károlyi Palace (Károlyi u. 16). This eighteenth-century building, which occupies a large site, was reconstructed-probably according to plans by a Viennese architect-in the neoclassical style by József Hofrichter in 1832, and was completed by Henrik Koch (1781-1861) after Hofrichter’s death. During the series of reconstructions, various modifications were implemented. The front on Henszlmann utca-following the articulation of the facade-was executed by Virgil Borbíró in 1934. However, the entrance hall articulated by columns, the staircase and some of the rooms on the first floor still retain the original design. Numerous cultural and historical events are connected with this building as well. In the 1830s it was the home of a literary circle, in 1849-1850 the Austrian generals Helfrich and Haynau lived here and Lajos Batthyány was also arrested in this building. Between 1930 and 1956 it housed the Municipal Gallery; since then it has been the home of the Petőfi Museum of Literature. We shall not go into greater detail concerning the still existing neoclassical buildings located in the streets of the city centre; instead, we shall leave the centre; and at that time one could do so by taking either of two directions. One was üllői út leading to the Ludovika; it was at the mouth of this road that the former Maria Theresa Barracks were situated (üllői út 45). They were constructed by Ferenc Kasselik from 1845, who presumably also used an earlier plan by József Hild. This simple multi-storey building is famous not so much for its architectural characteristics as for its historical 50
