Széchenyi Square

The Széchenyi Square, in Budapest

The Széchenyi Square, formerly Roosevelt Square, is an elegant square of the district of Pest, at the entrance of the Chain Bridge, at the edge of the Danube. The Budapest audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this place laden with history, whose successive names pay tribute to the American president Roosevelt then to the count István Széchenyi, great moderniser of Hungary and founder of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

From Roosevelt to Széchenyi

You arrive on the Széchenyi Square, or perhaps you have heard of the Roosevelt Square? No worry, it is not a trap: Roosevelt simply preceded Széchenyi. In 1947, the square was renamed in honour of the thirty-second president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was, for Hungary, a way of saluting one of the great Allied leaders of the Second World War, symbol of the free world and of the support for European democracies. Even if it is the Red Army that liberated Budapest in 1945, Roosevelt then embodied the hope of a democratic future. But in 2011, the country opted for a more national tribute by renaming the square with the name of the count István Széchenyi. A writer, economist and influential politician of the nineteenth century, Széchenyi is considered as one of the greatest modernisers of Hungary: to him are owed notably the nearby Chain Bridge and the foundation of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, whose magnificent neo-Renaissance building stands just beside the square. Lined with elegant buildings and open onto the Danube, at the entrance of the Chain Bridge, the square offers a fine perspective over Buda and the castle. A place of passage and of memory, it reflects the turbulent history of Hungary. A historic square and a tribute to a great man, the Széchenyi Square is a fine stop of the discovery of Budapest.

What to see

Here you discover an elegant square of the district of Pest, at the entrance of the Chain Bridge and at the edge of the Danube, renamed in 1947 in honour of the American president Roosevelt, then in 2011 of the count István Széchenyi, great moderniser of Hungary; just beside stands the magnificent neo-Renaissance building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences that he founded. The Széchenyi Square is a historic place of Budapest. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Széchenyi Square lies in the district of Pest, at the entrance of the Chain Bridge, at the edge of the Danube, in Budapest, reachable on foot or by transport. It is a public square freely accessible, open onto the river and offering a fine view over Buda. You discover it during a walk along the Danube.

Why did the Széchenyi Square of Budapest change its name?

Renamed in 1947 in honour of the American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, symbol of the support for democracies after the Second World War, it was renamed in 2011 with the name of the count István Széchenyi, great moderniser of the nineteenth century, to whom are owed the neighbouring Chain Bridge and the foundation of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, whose building lines the square.

Where is the Széchenyi Square in Budapest?

In the district of Pest, at the entrance of the Chain Bridge, at the edge of the Danube, in Budapest, in Hungary.