General Information

One of the most notable 19th-century aristocratic palaces in Budapest, the Károlyi Palace hosts the Petőfi Literary Museum, named after the most esteemed Hungarian poet of the Romantic period, Sándor Petőfi. On summer evenings, concerts are held in the courtyard’s garden. The recently renovated Károlyi Park that once belonged to the Palace is now separated and extends to the Magyar Street.

Architecture: Highlights

The outside walls of the present Palace originate from the 17th and 18th centuries and are important examples of the capital’s neoclassical architecture. Almost all of the palace’s architectural decorations were built between 1832 and 1841, during the extensive modernisation linked to the Károlyi family.

Architecture: Explained

The paved entrance leads to a green courtyard, surrounded by the palace’s U-shaped wings. From the garden, the impressive, two-storey internal front of the courtyard is visible. The side entrance is flanked by two Tuscan pilasters. The Ferenczy Street side retains a similar neoclassical look. The side on Henszlmann Street was built in the 1930s, after the demolition of the neighbouring house, with effort to keep the style consistent with the rest of the building.

History: Highlights

Being an exhibition and research centre from 1909 until 1945, Petőfi House was established to promote Petőfi’s output, because contemporary libraries, museums and archives were not interested in the documents collected here. In 1954, the government founded the museum, aiming to collect and preserve works of Hungarian literature.