PHOTOS: Iconic Budapest building to be renovated in the city centre

The stands are gone! Corvin Áruház has a new look. The scaffolding has been removed in yet another section, and the iconic building is showing more and more of itself.

The Corvin Áruház now. Source: Facebook/Színes Erzsébetváros

One of Budapest’s iconic buildings, the Corvin Department Store (Corvin Áruház) on Blaha Lujza Square, is scheduled to reopen next spring, nlc.hu writes. As the work progresses and the scaffolding disappears, more and more of the once tin-encased building is revealed.

24.hu has noticed that the Színes Erzsébetváros Facebook page has posted a recent photo of the part of the Corvin Áruház that has become visible. The building has changed so much that few people would probably recognise it.

The Corvin Department Store was the first building in the country to have an escalator. Originally opened in the spring of 1926, it was designed by Zoltán Reiss and was the most beautiful department store in Hungary. It was damaged during the Second World War, but in 1948 (after nationalisation), it was renovated and reopened as the Budapest Wholesale Department Store (Budapest Nagyáruház).

The Corvin Department Store was the first mall in the country in the modern sense, 24.hu reports. Among other things, it housed a railway ticket office, a shop selling household utensils, a carpet store, a shoe shop, a photo booth, a café, a restaurant and, of course, a fashion store.

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During the 1956 revolution, it suffered more damage than before. However, it was not comprehensively reconstructed. Minor renovations were carried out, and in 1967, the aluminium cladding was added, covering the ornate façade in the classical style until the spring of 2018.

András Pikó, mayor of the 8th district in Budapest, announced on 6 February 2021 that the renovation of the Corvin Department Store has started, and the restoration of the façade has begun, Telex writes. The very façade, which had been covered by aluminium cladding for more than fifty years.

3 months ago:

The Corvin Áruház in September. Source: Facebook/Színes Erzsébetváros

In 1961:

The Corvin store in 1961. Photo: Fortepan / Budapest Főváros Levéltára /

The visual plans of the renovation:

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Source: nlc.hu, 24.hu, Telex.hu