Description of settlement:

Józsefváros, one of the oldest districts of Budapest, has just celebrated its 225th anniversary. It has over 80.000 inhabitants. On the request of the citizens, it was named after Joseph II, heir to the throne. The dynamic development of the district started in the 1800s. The National theatre was built in 1837, the National Museum - in 1847, the old house of representatives - in 1865. The magnates and rich citizens built elegant council houses and the inner Józsefváros, the palace district was formed in the territory reaching as far as the present József Boulevard. After the flood of Pest in 1838, the middle part of the district was rebuilt, where most of the lower middle class and craftsmen lived. The poor lived in the territory reaching as far as Orczy road. You can find innumerable wonderful buildings here. (Wenckheim Palace, Esterházy Palace etc.) The pearls of the town are the Füvészkert (Arboretum) and the Orczy-garden. The clinics have been the centres for medical education and curing for more than a hundred years. You can find Technical Colleges bearing the names of Kálmán Kandó and Donát Bánki here. The Mihály Fazekas Training Elementary and Grammar School is situated here, where several famous people studied. The cultural life is colourful in the district. The block rehabilitation of the 9ha territory between the Corvin cinema and Szigony street is providing a new direction in its development. A residential area is to be built here with pedestrian streets, a brook and parks. This project is a good example of harmonious combining of the values of the past with new, modern ideas.