Today's Nagymező Street, often referred to as „Broadway in Pest”, was not always a centre of entertainment and culture. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was still considered an agricultural area on the outskirts of the city. What did it take to turn this quiet area into one of Budapest's most vibrant streets?

On this city walk, we will find the answer to this question, while not only walking but also being guests of the Moulin Rouge.

What makes Nagymező Street so special is that it was not made famous by a single institution, but by the different venues that reinforced each other. One of the key locations on the walk is the building at 17 Nagymező Street, whose past reflects the constant transformation of the area. The Somossy Orfeum opened here in the 1890s and was one of the most luxurious entertainment venues of the time. The building's history has been constantly enriched, with new names, new functions and new audiences.

The best known period is undoubtedly when it was the Somossy Orfeum, then the Moulin Rouge. Many people are surprised to learn that Budapest also had its own „red mill”. In the period between the two world wars, this place became one of the iconic venues of the night in Pest, where the world of revues, music and spectacular performances came together.

„At midnight the Winter Garden was opened, as the audience was streaming out from the Orpheum performance, the doors to the castle were opened, all the lights were lit so that the gold and red colours were almost blinding, and now a gypsy orchestra took over the march that the musicians in the Orpheum salon had just finished playing inside.” - reads Gyula Krúdy, who was himself a frequent guest here.

Who was the mysterious woman who ruined many men? Fortunes have changed hands, careers have been shattered, and in more than one case, existences have been shattered just to get close to her. Only at night, of course. Because as soon as the sun came up, everything that happened here was considered immoral, mysterious and, let's admit it, even more seductive.