Between Astoria and Blaha Lujza Square stands one of Budapest's most unique historic palaces: the Uránia National Film Theatre. The programme will not only take you through the building's stunning spaces, but will also take you back in time to turn-of-the-century Budapest, when the magic of cinema was born.

In the late 1890s, the architect Henrik Schmahl, commissioned by the Oradea-based builder Kálmán Rimanóczy, set in stone an Oriental-Romantic dream: the Uránia building is a unique meeting of Venetian Gothic, Moorish (Neo-Moorish) and Italian Renaissance styles. The rich ornamentation of the façade, the meticulous ornamentation and the fabulous interiors evoke the elegant world of the Monarchy with the same splendour today.

The building, inaugurated in 1896, was originally designed as an orphanage, then called Caprice and then Alhambra. It was one of the most elegant entertainment venues of the period, where the public in Pest attended musical performances, spectacular productions and social evenings. But the history of the building is much more than just a beautiful palace - it was the birthplace of one of Budapest's first cinemas and the screening of the earliest films in Hungarian cinema history.

In 1901, the film A táncz (The Dance) was shot and premiered here, which is considered the first directed film in Hungarian cinema history. The film's uniqueness lay not only in its technical novelty, but also in the fact that it also featured well-known artists of the time, including Lujza Blaha and Sári Fedák.

Uránia gradually became one of the most important cinemas in Budapest. It was here that the turn-of-the-century audience had its first encounter with the world of the moving image, which was then a real technical marvel and a social event.

During our walk, we will recall this special era: the elegant Budapest of the Monarchy, where evening performances, the birth of cinema and the cultural life that unfolded within the walls of Uránia shaped the history of the city.