Strolling among the Art Nouveau buildings surrounding Óváros Square and spotting a tiny staircase nestled among the houses, you might feel like you’re wandering through the narrow streets of a small town in Tuscany. The Beerhouse Steps (in Hungarian: Sörház-lépcső) proceed along the eastern side of the square, towards Buhim Street. The two buildings flanking this small passageway have been standing here, unchanged, for hundreds of years. On one side stands a pharmacy building, which interestingly enough has always operated as a pharmacy in Veszprém. Some people actually still refer to the small staircase as the Pharmacy Steps for this reason, but its more commonly used name comes from the building on its other side.
Beerhouse Steps... the name is clearly a clue that this multi-storey building was once a brewery. Yet this is just one chapter of the building’s colourful history. While the pharmacy building can be seen to represent continuity in Veszprém, this building instead represents exciting transformations. After all, it was once a traders’ hall, then a building of the Jewish community, then later still a convent. In addition, the building on the other side of the Beerhouse Steps also houses a ballroom, an inn, the aforementioned brewery and today, a restaurant.
Yet the real magic of the steps comes from its archway. We have the restaurant’s previous owner to thank for these curved shapes. He asked the city council at the time to let him build the Italian-style arches when he expanded his house.
This draughty little alley is a favourite shortcut of the people of Veszprém. When the hustle and bustle of everyday life doesn’t allow time for circumnavigating the entire Óváros Square, this comes in handy as a shortcut.
