Belvárosi Piac, Budapest

Belvárosi Piac is a market hall built between 1892 and 1896 as part of Budapest’s historic group of great market halls. Its architect was Győző Czigler, and the building uses eclectic architecture. The hall covers 2107 square metres and once held 190 permanent stalls alongside 80 temporary ones, with rooms for police and rescue services, a coffee shop, a restaurant, and meat inspection.

Renovation in 2014 brought the name Downtown Market and shifted its role mainly toward selling produce. A later change is especially striking: since 2022, the building has operated as a light-art museum. Look at the hall itself as a meeting point between commerce and spectacle: its original purpose was practical, but its present life turns the same market architecture into an exhibition setting.