You're standing near Oktogon, one of Budapest's busiest crossroads, on the Grand Boulevard.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026 · A three-minute read · 1777–2016
The short answer
Teréz körút is a stretch of Budapest's Grand Boulevard near Oktogon, laid out from 1871 as Pest was rebuilt. It has carried several names, including Lenin körút under communism, and was the site of a 2016 nail bomb attack that injured two police officers and a taxi driver outside number 4.
Looking south-east on Teréz körút (Boulevard) near to Andrássy Avenue late in the evening Budapest, Hungary, 22 October 2012. — 2012 · Mstyslav Chernov · CC BY-SA 4.0
September 2016
A nail bomb wounded two police officers here
On Teréz körút, about 100 feet from here, a man planted a homemade nail bomb outside an empty shop at number 4. It went off just before 11 p.m. On September 24, 2016, as two police officers walked past on patrol. The blast tore into them both, leaving one officer, Vantara László, with serious injuries. The other, Andirkó Szabina, was hurt so badly doctors said her life was in danger. She had once been the face of a national police recruitment campaign. A taxi driver nearby was also hurt, and the explosion shattered windows in nearby apartments.
Police hunted for the bomber for almost a month. Investigators said he had hoped to blackmail Hungary's interior ministry for a million euros.
A cemetery was opened in 1790 in the triangle of Váci út, Lehel utca and Taksony utca, in the broader Terézváros area. It served Christian and Jewish residents of Belváros, Lipótváros and Terézváros for about 50 years. The cemetery ceased use in the early 19th century as Budapest developed.
1873 to 1896
An eight-sided square rose from open fields
Before the bomb, before the subway, this corner was open ground at the edge of a growing city. Terézváros, Budapest, took its name from Maria Theresa, the Habsburg empress, and the district formed in 1873 as Budapest merged from three separate towns. Andrássy Avenue was cut through the fields in 1871, and the eight-sided plaza beside you followed soon after. Builders raised four large, matching buildings around the new square between 1871 and 1873, designed by the architect Antal Szkalnitzky. They gave the junction its name: Oktogon, for its eight sides.
In 1896, workers finished the Oktogon metro station, part of the Millennium Underground Railway. It was continental Europe's first subway line, running beneath Andrássy Avenue to Heroes' Square. The station still has two platforms, each reached by its own stairway from the street.
1936 to 1990
The square and boulevard changed names four times
The square did not keep its name for long. In 1936, the government renamed it Mussolini Square, honoring Italy's fascist leader. After World War II, Hungary's new communist rulers renamed it again, this time November 7 Square, marking the date of the Russian Revolution. The name Oktogon only came back after communism fell in 1990.
The wider boulevard went through the same tug-of-war. Local officials named this stretch Teréz körút in 1882, after the district itself. From 1950 to 1990, the state renamed it Lenin körút, honoring the Soviet founder. When the regime changed, the old name returned for good.
1956
Fighting in 1956 left scars on buildings
During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, fighting tore through Teréz körút. Buildings along the boulevard, including one at the corner with Dohnányi Ernő utca, still show scars from the street battles of that October. Soviet tanks and Hungarian fighters clashed across the Grand Boulevard before the uprising was crushed.
1992 to 1996
An art archive and a secret police archive opened nearby
A few steps from where you stand, artists founded Artpool Foundation in 1992, an archive and gathering place for Hungary's underground art scene. Nearby, in 1996, the state opened the Historical Archives of the State Security Services, holding the secret police files of the communist decades. The two sit close together: one preserving art made against the old system, the other preserving the paperwork the old system used to watch people.
2016 to now
Both wounded officers returned to duty in 2017
Both wounded officers recovered and returned to duty in June 2017. Today the corner carries all of it at once: a historic subway stop, café life from the old Abbázia Café a block away, and the quiet scar of a 2016 attack folded into an ordinary Budapest crossing.
Trains still run beneath Oktogon on the line that opened in 1896, and the square above it carries the name it finally kept.
Read the ground you are standing on
Every person, building and event in this story opens into its own dig in the app — and Strata will dig the ground under your feet instead, wherever that is, in about a minute, with every source shown.
Sourced records, high and medium confidence. Era background is marked as such.
Early modern
before the 18th century
The ground that became Terézváros was at first just scattered farmsteads, gardens, orchards, vineyards and press-houses before the city rapidly built over it.
Era background — not a record of this tile · Terézváros Önkormányzata – Terézváros története
4 November 1777
On 4 November 1777 the Pest magistrate renamed the farmland and orchards of the Upper Outer Suburb 'Terézváros,' after Queen Maria Theresa, though some trace the name instead to the district church's patron, St Theresa.
From 1790 a burial ground in the triangle of Váci út, Lehel utca and Taksony utca served Christian and Jewish residents of the surrounding districts for about fifty years, before the city grew over it.
Construction of the Nagykörút, the ring boulevard that includes Teréz körút, began in 1871 as Pest was largely rebuilt, and a tram has run this stretch since 1887.
Oktogon station, on the Millennium Underground line, opened in 1896 beneath the crossing of the Grand Boulevard and Andrássy Avenue, a short walk from here.
From 1950 to 1990 the Teréz and Erzsébet sections of the Grand Boulevard were renamed Lenin körút, with Maria Theresa's name restored only after the regime changed.
A few streets north, the House of Terror museum occupies the former headquarters of Hungary's fascist and communist secret police, opened as a museum in 2002.
On the night of 24 September 2016, a homemade bomb hidden in a renovation box exploded at Teréz körút 4, right at the corner with Király utca, injuring two police officers and a taxi driver.
A man planted a homemade nail bomb outside an empty shop at number 4, which exploded just before 11 p.m. on 24 September 2016 as two police officers, Vantara László and Andirkó Szabina, walked past on patrol. Both were seriously injured, along with a nearby taxi driver, and the blast shattered windows in nearby apartments.
What was here before the boulevard was built?
Before the Grand Boulevard was cut through in 1871, this was open ground at the edge of a growing city, part of Terézváros, named for Empress Maria Theresa in 1777.
Why is the square called Oktogon?
Four large, matching buildings designed by architect Antal Szkalnitzky were raised around the new square between 1871 and 1873, giving the eight-sided junction its name, Oktogon.
Did Teréz körút have other names?
Yes. The square was renamed Mussolini Square in 1936 and November 7 Square after World War II under communist rule, with Oktogon returning after 1990. The boulevard itself was renamed Lenin körút from 1950 to 1990 before Teréz körút was restored.
Was Teréz körút involved in the 1956 uprising?
Yes, fighting tore through the boulevard during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and buildings along it, including the corner with Dohnányi Ernő utca, still show damage from that October's street battles.
