Budapest Guide
Józsefváros and Ferencváros
Ferencváros
Ferencváros was developed to house workers in the latter half of the nineteenth century, on the same lines as the more bourgeois Józsefváros. During the 1930s and 1940s, its population confounded Marxist orthodoxy by voting for the extreme right, who returned the favour by supporting the local football team FTC – popularly known as "Fradi" – which became the unofficial team of the opposition under Communism, subsequently known for its hooligan "ultras". The club's green and white colours can be seen throughout the district; its stadium is way out along Üllői út.
Initially, Ferencváros takes its tone from two institutions on Vámház körút, the section of Kiskörút that separates it from the Belváros. The wrought-iron Great Market Hall (Nagycsarnok; Mon 6am–5pm, Tues– Fri 6am–6pm, Sat 6am–3pm) is as famous for its ambience as for its produce, with tanks of live fish and stalls festooned with strings of paprika downstairs and cheap eateries upstairs.
Nearer the Danube, the Economics University (named after Karl Marx during Communist times) makes a fine sight from Buda at night, reflected in the river, and adds to the liveliness of the area by day. The building was originally Budapest's main Customs House (Vámház) – hence the name of the körút. A freestanding section of the medieval walls of Pest can be found off Vámház körút in the courtyard of no. 16, if the door is open.
Further inland off Kálvin tér, Ráday utca hums with restaurants, cafés and bars, their pavement tables packed till after midnight and occasionally frequented by raucous stag partygoers. In late June/early July, the Ferencváros festival (FETE) sees concerts on Bakáts tér at the far end of Ráday, and other events in the neighbourhood; while the Goethe-Institut at no. 58 has its own programme of events throughout the year.