An urban oasis in Budapest City Center

Füvészkert (“Herbologist Garden”) was founded for medical students centuries ago, and it was made famous in Ferenc Molnár’s novel The Paul Street Boys. Szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu has recently published some interesting facts about this green “island”.

Exploring this “jungle” of various plants and herbs provides an exciting and unique program even in the harshest summer heat. The shady walkways, the quiet stream, and the small pond create an atmosphere of tranquility. The blooming gardens of colorful flowers make visitors forget that they are in fact in the middle of a crowded and noisy capital city.

This place is even more atmospheric for those who have read The Paul Street Boys, as they can imagine clearly the scene in which Boka, Nemecsek and Csónakos spy after their enemies, the Redshirts. We can almost see as they sneak from one palm tree to another.

Füvészkert is the first botanical garden in Hungary. It is currently operating as a unit of Eötvös Lóránd University in Józsefváros. The overall territory of the greenhouses exceeds 2,000 square meters.

This garden has a history full of adventure, indeed. It was founded in 1771 in Nagyszombat in order to support the education of medical students. It was moved to Buda 1777 along with the university itself. After multiple relocations within the city, it has been moved to its current place in 2847.

It was made famous by the novel of Ferenc Molnár, as the protagonists of The Paul Street Boys had some adventures there. The name “Füvészkert” was taken to honor the novel.

The botanical garden’s territory had been decreased. Maps from that time show that Füvészkert lied between today’s Klinikák (Clinics) metro station and the Szigony Street-Üllői Street-Korányi Sándor Street-Illés Street-Tömő Street line.

The greenhouse described in The Paul Street Boys was somewhere near Tömő Street. The pond in which Nemecsek ended up hiding was probably in the place of today’s clinical building near the Museum of Natural Sciences.