Városház (City Hall)

Városház (City Hall) Review

The monumental former city council building, which used to be a hospital for wounded soldiers and then a home for the elderly, is now Budapest's city hall. You can freely enter its courtyard, but just how far you'll get beyond that may depend on whether the concierge woke up on the right side of his bed. Once Budapest's largest building, it is enormous enough to loom over the row of shops and businesses lining Károly körút in front of it but can only be entered through courtyards or side streets (it is most accessible from Gerlóczy utca). The Tuscan columns at the main entrance and the allegorical statuary of Atlas, War, and Peace are especially splendid. There was once a chapel in the center of the main facade, but now only its spire remains.