A Guide to Budapest’s Lively Jewish Quarter

Budapest’s Seventh District is full of culture and history. At night, it buzzes with action from its many ruin pubs, restaurants, and other cool hangouts. During the day, it’s easier to see the area’s roots as the Budapest Jewish Quarter where visitors don yarmulkes and cover bare shoulders to enter synagogues that are over 100 years old and pay tribute at moving memorials.

We have spent a good deal of time exploring the neighborhood and uncovering all the historic, inspirational, and fun things it has to offer. Here’s a look at one of Budapest’s best areas.

Synagogues

There are three synagogues in the Quarter that are open to visitors. The Dohany Street Synagogue (aka Great Synagogue) is the central attraction of the neighborhood. The largest synagogue in Europe, it’s impossible to miss. The building’s enormous twin towers reach over 140 feet in height, soaring above everything surrounding it. It’s also exquisite, with striped, Moorish-style exterior and distinctive domes.

Since its completion in 1859, the Dohany Street Synagogue has been a center of worship for Neolog Jews, a liberal, modernist sect that exists only in Hungary. During World War II, it functioned as a detention area for Jews during the German occupation, and many victims of the war now rest just outside its walls.

In contrast, it would be easy to walk by the Kazinczy Street Synagogue without even noticing. The façade is all brick, and although there are a few little Art Nouveau flourishes, it doesn’t stand out from the outside.

Completed in 1913, the synagogue is considered the center of the Orthodox Jewish community in Budapest. The modest interior is a beautiful blue shade with small floral symbols that look more like folk art than something you’d expect to see in a temple. It is less touristy than the Dohany Street Synagogue, making it worth a visit.

The Rumbach Street Synagogue, which was once home to the Status Quo Jews, is no longer an active place of worship following years used as an internment camp during the war. While it fell into disrepair for some time, it was recently renovated and now serves as a community space and extension of the Jewish Museum and Archives.

Monuments and memorials

Unsurprisingly, an area filled with so much history and equally as much loss has lots of monuments and memorials. Just behind the Dohány Street Synagogue, the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park (entrance included with a synagogue ticket) honors those whose lives were lost during the Holocaust and the people who risked everything to save Jews in need.

The park is named after Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish consul credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews by providing Swedish documents and shelter in buildings he had designated as Swedish territory. The park also honors Carl Lutz, Giorgio Perlasca, and others whose efforts helped save many. It features a striking stained glass panel and a plaque commemorating the “righteous gentiles.”

The second section of the Memorial Park is home to the Tree of Life. Designed by Imre Varga, a Hungarian sculptor, the branches on the Tree of Life are made of thousands of tiny, metal leaves representing Hungarian Jews who died. Every leaf has the name of a victim inscribed on it. It’s impossible to leave this place without a sense of the enormous impact the Holocaust had on Hungary.

One block away, the understated Carl Lutz Memorial stands on Dob Street, the entrance to the former Jewish ghetto. The bronze statue shows a man in the sky dropping a flowing curtain to a man on the ground below. The plaque nearby reads, “He who saves but one man is as if he had saved the whole world.”

This moving monument honors the Swiss ambassador Carl Lutz whose efforts saved over 62,000 Jews during the Holocaust. By setting up safe houses that he declared Swiss property and providing protective documents and fake passports to help people escape, he protected many. It is estimated that half of the Hungarian Jews who survived the war did so thanks to his help.

Less grand but no less attention getting than other memorials in the Seventh District are the stumble stones (stolpersteine). Each stone is placed at a person’s last freely chosen residence. It lists their birth year, when they were deported, and the location where they were taken along with their date of death. There are thousands across Budapest. We make a point of photographing them whenever we see them–Budapest is the southernmost city, and we’ve seen them as far away as Tromso, Norway, 2100 miles north.

Ruin bars

Beyond its many historical sites, District VII is probably most well-known for being the heart of the ruin bar district. These fun pubs are generally dilapidated buildings that are given a new life with fun decor and a good menu.

Many of them–like Szimpla Kert, the original ruin bar–also serve as gathering places. They host markets, put on movie nights, and are valued community spaces where you can get a quick dinner and an affordable beer in an unusual setting.

We love Szimpla and Mazel Tov in particular, though the popular ruin bars are very different. Szimpla is funky and decorated with things like old televisions and a Trabant car converted into seating while Mazel Tov has the feel of a casual garden party. In addition, Koleves Kert is an awesome seasonal outdoor space where you can enjoy a drink while hanging out in a hammock.

Restaurants and street food

Some of our favorite places to eat in the city are located in the Jewish Quarter. For street food, Karavan is the place to go whether you’re looking for vegan burgers, loaded sandwiches, or some of the best langos around.

The menu at Getto Gulyas is full of traditional Hungarian food like goulash, chicken paprikash, and walnut-filled crepes. About a block away, Koleves (the indoor part of Koleves Kert mentioned above) has some traditional items plus dishes with flavors from all over the world–Turkish, Italian, Asian, and more. At Dobrumba, we loved the mezze–particularly the muhammara–and the shakshuka. Reservations are a must at all of these spots.

If you can’t make up your mind or your schedule doesn’t let you plan ahead, go to Gozsdu Court. This area is lined with lots of restaurants and cafes to choose from. There, you can also see the remnants of the original ghetto wall in the courtyard. Interestingly, Gozsdu hosts a regular antique market and one of the city’s most unique Christmas markets.