The Jewish quarter of Pest

At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries in the VII. district of Budapest the Old Jewish Quarter of Pest was formed and its center was the Király street at that time. 


In 2002, the area bordered by Király street, Csányi street, Klauzál square, Kisdifóa street, Dohány street and Károly Boulveard. It was designated the ”Old Jewish Quarter of Pest ” under the protection of the Budapest World Heritage Site.

Most of the Jewish sights can be found here on Pest side. These are the followings :
  • The Hungarian Jewish Museum
  • The Martyrs’ Cemetery
  • The Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Garden 
as well as the main synagogues and headquarters of the Hungarian Neologist and Orthodox Jewish communities.

This historic part of town started to develop youth tourism. Since 2002, popular entertainment places have been installed in the courtyard of demolished houses like Simpla Garden, Gozsdu Court or Szóda Garden.

Unfortunately for a long time the city did not tolerate Jewish people among its wall. This was broken by Emperor Joseph’s decree of 1783. By this time 14 Jewish families were living in the immediate vicinity of Pest, the enormous tenement house of the Barons of Orczy. Most of them moved from the largest Jewish community of the era, Óbuda, but many also came from the other parts of the Habsburg Empire, like, Morvaia and Galicia.

The history of the Jewish district of Pest can be found under the 7th of Wesselényi Street in the Hungarian Jewish Archives with the help of contemporay diaries, love letters, applications and permits.
Their permanent exhibitions from the 18th century can be visited from Sunday to Thursday from 10-18pm and on Friday from 10-16pm.

Here you can visit the so called „tórapólya” or on its other name, wimpel which is a swaddling clothes used during the boy’s circumcision. They cut the wimpel for 4 parts then sewed it into a long piece. After that they emroidered the clothes and gifted it to the synagoguge.

Sources:
http://jewish.hu/a-pesti-zsidonegyed/
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