Budapest Guide
Várhegy and central Buda
Batthyány tér
The main square and social hub of the Víziváros, Batthyány tér is named after the nineteenth-century prime minister, Lajos Batthyány, but started out as Bomba tér (Bomb Square) after an ammunition depot sited here for the defence of the Danube. Today, it's busy with shoppers visiting the supermarket in an old market hall on the western side of the square, and commuters using the underground metro/HÉV interchange. The sunken two-storey building to the right of the market used to be the White Cross Inn, where Casanova reputedly once stayed. Many of the older buildings in this area are sunken in this way owing to the ground level being raised several feet in the nineteenth century to combat flooding.
The twin-towered Church of St Anne (Szent Anna templom) on the southern corner of Fő utca is one of the finest Baroque buildings in Budapest. Commissioned by the Jesuits in 1740, it wasn't consecrated until 1805 owing to financial problems, the abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773, and an earthquake. During Communist times there were plans to demolish the building, as it was feared that the metro would undermine its foundations, but these, fortunately, came to nothing. Figures of Faith, Hope and Charity hover above the entrance, and in the middle of the facade St Anne cherishes the child Mary, while God's eye surmounts the Buda coat of arms on its tympanum. The interior is ornate yet homely, the high altar festooned with statues of St Anne presenting Mary to the Temple in Jerusalem, accompanied by a host of cherubim and angels, while chintzy bouquets and potted trees welcome shoppers dropping in to say their prayers.
In the northern corner of the square, the Church of the St Elizabeth Nuns is worth a look inside for its fresco of St Florian protecting the faithful during the 1810 fire of Tabán.