View source for Astoria, Budapest

{{Short description|Road junction in Budapest, Hungary}}
[[File:Astoriacivertanlegi.jpg|thumb|Astoria at night]]
'''Astoria''' is the colloquial, unofficial name of a major road intersection in the [[Budapest]] city centre, and it can also refer to [[Astoria (Budapest Metro)|a station of the M2 metro line]]. It is named after [[Danubius Hotel Astoria|Grand Hotel Astoria]] at its corner.

The intersection is one of the most important junctions in Budapest because it is the crossing point of [[Rákóczi út]] and [[Small Boulevard (Budapest)|Small Boulevard]]. At its corner can be found the Humanities Faculty of the [[Eötvös Loránd University]] and the [[Hungarian National Museum]] beside it. [[Dohány Street Synagogue]] is located in the opposite direction, around 200&nbsp;m far from this junction.

Colloquially, a short section of the roads originating from the actual intersection, reachable by a few minutes of walking, can be also named Astoria (as in a neighborhood), for example "Az Astorián lakom" (I live on the Astoria) does not imply having a residence neighboring the actual intersection (which has few residential buildings), rather one near the intersection along one of the major roads.

==Transportation==
The neighbouring metro stations are [[Kálvin tér (Budapest Metro)|Calvin Square]] and [[Deák Ferenc tér (Budapest Metro)|Ferenc Deák Square]] along the Small Boulevard and [[Ferenciek tere (Budapest Metro)|Square of the Franciscans]] and [[Blaha Lujza tér (Budapest Metro)|Lujza Blaha Square]] along Rákóczi Road.

Trams only run in the north-south direction, given that the east-west lines were discontinued in 1972. The reconstruction of the latter direction has been on the agenda ever since.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://veke.hu/2008/01/hova-tunt-a-villamos-a-rakoczi-utrol/ |title=Hová tűnt a villamos a Rákóczi útról? |trans-title=Where did the tram from Rákóczi Street go? |language=hu |website=veke.hu |date=3 January 2008 |access-date=15 June 2025}}</ref> Cycling is hampered by heavy car traffic and the presence of bus lanes on the side of the road in the east-west direction, while a bicycle lane facilitates the movement of cyclists in the north-south direction. For a long time, pedestrians could only cross from one side of the intersection on the surface via the small roundabout, the pedestrian crossings touching the tram stop platforms, but in 2024 a zebra crossing was also built on Rákóczi Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://budapest.hu/hirek/2024/05/27/elkeszult-az-uj-zebra-az-astorian |title=Elkészült az új zebra az Astorián |trans-title=The new zebra crossing on Astoria is complete |language=hu |website=budapest.hu |date=27 May 2024 |access-date=15 June 2025}}</ref>

==References==
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{{Coord|47|29|40|N|19|3|36|E|source:huwiki_region:HU|display=title}}

[[Category:Squares in Budapest]]