• Coronavirus in Hungary
  • Budapest
  • Hungary border control
  • HelloMagyar
EnglishFrenchGermanSpanish
EnglishFrenchGermanSpanish
15th of February – The opening of the Great Market Hall15th of February – The opening of the Great Market Hall15th of February – The opening of the Great Market Hall15th of February – The opening of the Great Market Hall
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Society
  • Sport
  • Culture
  • Special Hungary
  • News To Go
  • World
  • Contact Us
  • About us
  • About us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
✕
Breaking News
  • NATO will kick out Hungary for sacking ‘NATO friend officers’ from the Hungarian military?

Support us
Alexandra Béni Alexandra Béni · 15/02/2016
· Special Hungary

15th of February – The opening of the Great Market Hall

architecture tourism

The Great Market Hall or Central Market Hall (“Nagyvásárcsarnok”) is the largest and oldest indoor market in Budapest. The idea of building such a large market hall arose at the end of the 19th century. It was opened in 1897 and was renovated completely for its 100th anniversary. It is a uniquely incomparable experience.

At the end of the 19th century, there were outdoor markets at almost all big and crowded squares and they were open more or less frequently. These were the markets of Ferenciek Square, Kálvin Square, Klauzál Square and Köztársaság Square which didn’t comply with the hygienic requirements but disturbed the continually growing traffic and the establishment of parks and resting areas. The abolishment of these markets was only possible by building modern market halls.

On the 10th of July, 1891 Budapest invited applications for the designing and the execution of a central market hall that had to be appropriate for retail and wholesale trade, for the initiation of rail tracks and the transmission of the goods that arrived on River Danube. Nine applicants entered until the deadline in December. The professional jury consisted of great authorities like Alajos Hauszmann (architect of the New York Palace), Imre Steindl (architect of the Hungarian Parliament), Győző Czigler (architect of the Széchenyi Bath) and other foreign architects. They chose three winners but the work of Samu Pecz, the architect professor of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, stood out of his French and German fellow competitors. 11 electors chose his work as the best out of the 15 members of the jury.

The construction started in the August of 1893 and the formal opening of the Great Market Hall was held on the 15th of February, 1897. The architect designed it to have a wrought-iron framework which was a masterpiece in itself. It is one of the most beautiful steel structured space-knotting with its tracery, airy stands and grid sustainers. A distinctive architectural feature is the roof which was restored to have colourful Zsolnay tiling from Pécs. The area size of the building is 10,000 square meters, which is covered by steel structure.

great market hall

Budapest’s Great Market Hall belonged to the most modern indoor markets at that time, with up-to-date lightning and refrigeration. However, the city soon outgrow the market hall so in 1902 they removed the wholesale market and the rails tracks from the side-aisles

Four smaller market halls were opened at the same time, when the Great Market Hall was introduced. The market hall of Rákóczi Square was built on 5300 square metres with a Greek cross shaped space. The Klauzál Market was built on 3000 square metres, while the market halls of Hunyadi Square and Hold Street were designed by Győző Czigler and built on 2000 square metres.

Nowadays the Great Market Hall is a real tourist paradise because you can find many-many traditional Hungarian delicacies like strings of red paprika and garlic, Hungarian salamis, sausages, hams and other meat products, fresh pastries, dairy products, Hungarian wines and pálinka and of course, souvenirs. You can also try local dishes on the upper level. It is honestly a special experience, so make sure to visit the Great Market Hall if you have the chance!

great market hall2

Photos: www.facebook.com/jamey.blewitt

Copy editor: bm

Source: Daily News Hungary

architecture tourism
Share
Alexandra Béni
Alexandra Béni

1 Comment

  1. Anonymous says:
    23/02/2020 at 01:20

    Where are the photos?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

SUPPORT US

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to receive daily updates, news & stories about Hungary!

Select your location below or enter your country so we can deliver our morning newsletters to you in time.


Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.


.

Latest news
  • Trump would like to copy the Hungarian ‘mother-woman, father-man’ law if re-elected
  • Hungarian minister: the USA is dangerous on Europe’s economy
  • Hungary’s solar feed-in halt threatens EU funds access
  • Hungarian FM slams the EU in Azerbaijan
  • PHOTOS: Budapest mayor in Transcarpathia, Ukraine, delivers aid
  • NATO will kick out Hungary for sacking ‘NATO friend officers’ from the Hungarian military?
  • PHOTOS: Delhi Hungarian Cultural Centre commemorated famous Hungarian-Indian painter
  • Snowstorm: Lufthansa plane almost ran out of fuel over Hungary, passengers in shock

About us

Contact us

Copyright rules

© 2023 DailyNewsHungary. All rights reserved! | Server and development by Svigelj Levente E.V