Paris Court (Párizsi udvar), in a once miraculous building located in District 5, has suffered a lot in the past few decades. Now, thanks to a new owner, it’s been given a chance of rebirth.
Paris Court is a wonderful shopping arcade, the only one built in the early 1920’s in the capital city. It occupies the first two levels of Brudern House, a seven-storey building on Ferenciek Square, accentuated by two small ornate towers. The building has been a protected monument since 1976, shows traits of Gothic, Arabic and Moorish architecture. The arcade has a vaulted roof made of coloured glass and a hexagonal glass dome. It’s decorated with cast-iron and sculpted wooden ornaments, the floor has marvelous mosaic tiles.
photo: hg.hu
The still obvious beauty however hides a sad history. The passageways of the court survived the difficult times of the past decades; war didn’t manage to destroy Paris Court, but socialist architecture, by numerous reconstructions, did a lot of harm to it. Ice Buffet (Jégbüfé) is still a unique and noteworthy part of Brudern House, but visiting the passageways inside, we can now only meet a rather neglected site and plenty of empty shops. It’s not at all surprising that many people have been looking forward to its renovation.
photo: vlmworld.com
Now that the building was sold to a businessman, who, earlier falling in love with Budapest (now living in Dubai, but returning from time to time), decided to invest, the passageways have a chance of revival. According to the latest news, we can count on the investors preserving the uniqueness and special characteristic of the site, while building a five star hotel, conference centre, luxury shops and restaurants on it. The Arab businessman was found by and the project belongs to the Mellow Mood Group, that has already proved its competence with its latest large-scale business, the Buddha-Bar Hotel Budapest Klotild Palace, a five star, modern luxury hotel placed in a historical building (Klotild Palace). The hotel, in November 2013, won the Best International Hotel Interior Award.
This new project will hopefully contribute to the future improvement of District 5, make the capital city even more attractive in the eyes of foreigners, increasing the tourism income of Budapest and at the same time creating new jobs.
