A bustling industrial area once stood here. This is Vizafogó. Imagine the clatter of machinery the hiss of steam. The air thick with coal smoke. This wasn’t always a residential area. Vizafogó’s past was forged in industry.
Vizafogó is a part of Budapest’s 13th district. It’s nestled between the Danube River and Váci út. From Dráva Street in the south to Meder Street in the north. The area north of the Árpád Bridge was protected by a dam. This dam was built between 1870 and 1878. Soon many factories and mills sprang up.
The Zarzetzky match factory stood where the Árpád Bridge overpass is today. Nearby were László Láng’s factories. They later merged to become the Láng Machine Factory. Turbina Street even bears Láng’s name. The Danube’s banks once shrubby were filled in by the 20th century. The Vuk and Sons Sawmill occupied the present-day sewage treatment plant’s location.
Police houses were built on Dagály Street in the 1930s. The Dagály fürdő Szabadság Strandfürdő (Freedom Beach Bath) opened in 1948. It’s been renovated many times. The Forestry and Pipe fitting SC occupied land nearby from 1961. Cooperative houses were built between 1961 and 1966. A housing estate reduced the area’s green spaces in 2006. A tennis hall replaced a handball court around 1977.
South of the Árpád Bridge lay a slum. It stretched along Váci út to Dráva Street. The Hétház and Tirirzáhár houses housed working-class families. A Romani settlement existed west of the railway line from 1940. It reached Népfürdő Street.
The Council of Public Works planned Vizafogó’s settlement in 1938. They wanted to remove the freight station. Between 1970 and 1976 the area along Párkány Street was redeveloped. The first phase of the Vizafogó residential estate was built between 1982 and 1984. László Bene and Ferenc Szentmártoni designed it. Ten-story buildings housed 2,684 apartments. A school a kindergarten and a crèche were also built. The Berzsenyi Dániel Gymnasium stands there too. The second phase was completed by 1989. The old station building still stands.
Marina Beach opened in the early 2000s. The 2017 World Aquatics Championships led to the Danube Arena’s construction. This renewed much of the Danube promenade. It’s now called Moscow Promenade.
Before the regime change the River Regulation and Gravel Dredging Company operated a plant. It’s now a small boat harbor. In January 2021 a large park was announced. It opened on March 8 2022. Vizafogó has transformed. From industry to residential area to a vibrant community with a new park. This is Vizafogó a story of change and renewal.