National Theatre
Hungary's national theatrical company spent 165 years without a permanent home — two demolitions, four addresses, one metro line.
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The current building opened on March 15, 2002, closing a saga that began in 1837 when the company first staged plays on Kerepesi Street with a mandate to birth national drama and showcase world literature. The People's Theatre that replaced it was razed in 1965 for metro construction, forcing the company through two more temporary homes before a permanent address arrived.
What to look for
- The 2002 building itself — the permanent riverside theatre Baron István Széchenyi first argued for in his 1832 pamphlet A Magyar Játékszínről
- Any reference to the founding name Pesti Magyar Színház, carried from the 1837 opening until the state nationalized the company in 1840
- The long roster of former addresses — Kerepesi Street, Blaha Lujza Square, Nagymező Street, Hevesi Sándor Square — marking each forced move
An active repertory theatre; check the programme board at the entrance for current productions and showtimes.
National Theatre is one of 37 sights worth the detour in Budapest, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Budapest pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Budapest
- Hungarian Parliament BuildingA political manifesto in stone: Hungary's parliament was built to look like Westminster, on purpose, with 40 kg of gold inside.
- Buda CastleA palace first raised in 1265, severely damaged in the Siege of Budapest during World War II, and rebuilt by a communist government — the scars and the seams are the story.
- Széchenyi Chain BridgeThe bridge that stitched Buda and Pest into one city — designed in Britain, shipped in sections, and opened in 1849 as one of the world's longest spans.
- Heroes' SquareAt the far end of Andrássy Avenue, a monument built in 1896 fixes the Magyar conquest of 896 AD in stone — seven founding chieftains, national leaders, and the plaza where Hungary reburied Imre Nagy in 1989.
- AquincumMarcus Aurelius is believed to have written parts of the Meditations here — on the Roman empire's frontier, not in Rome.
- St. Stephen's BasilicaThe first King of Hungary's mummified right hand sits in a reliquary here — and the dome above you had to be torn down and rebuilt from nothing after it collapsed in 1858.