Kossuth Lajos Street is one of the finest Baroque streets in Eger. Much of its present-day character, together with the layout of the historic city centre, dates back to the 18th century.
The street once formed part of the route leading from Eger Castle to St Michael’s Church, which stood on the site of today’s Basilica. Over time, churches, monasteries, schools and stately residences were built here, along with the County Hall.
One of the first landmarks along the street is the mauve-coloured Lesser Provost’s Palace, commissioned by Provost-Canon Miklós Androvics in 1758. Its most striking details include the elegant wrought-iron grilles created by Henrik Fazola. The palace originally had a mansard roof, but this was destroyed in the great fire of 1827 and later replaced with the hipped roof seen today.
On the corner of Egészségház Street stands the Greater Provost’s Palace, built between 1774 and 1776 to plans by Jakab Fellner. Construction was commissioned by Count Ignác Batthyány, Greater Provost of the cathedral chapter, and completed by his successor, Canon Miklós Dobronyay, whose initials can still be seen on the balcony railing. The ornate wrought-iron balcony and the grilles on the ground-floor windows were made by Henrik Fazola. The palace also played a role in Hungarian history: on 25–26 February 1849, Henrik Dembinszky, Artúr Görgey and György Klapka met here to discuss the battle plan for the Battle of Kápolna. Today, the building is home to the Bródy Sándor Library.
Near the bridge over the Eger Stream stands the Buttler House, whose remarkable story is closely associated with Kálmán Mikszáth’s novel A Strange Marriage. János Buttler was born in 1773 as the thirteenth of fourteen children. At the age of 19, he married Countess Katalin Dőry with special permission due to his young age. In 1795, the ecclesiastical court in Kassa ordered the couple to live separately, holding both parties responsible, although the ruling did not constitute a legal divorce. At the age of 58, Buttler once again sought to have the marriage dissolved in the hope of freeing himself from his maintenance obligations and his childless marriage, but his efforts were unsuccessful. He died in 1845.