Béla Bartók Concert Hall

The Béla Bartók Concert Hall occupies the city's former Great Synagogue, a striking Moorish-Romantic building converted in the 1970s into one of the best small concert venues in Hungary.

The Szombathely Symphony Orchestra plays here regularly and the acoustic is excellent. Even without a ticket the exterior is worth a slow walk past, especially in late afternoon light.

things to do sight
A story
The hall is the former Great Synagogue of Szombathely, built in 1881 for what was one of the largest Jewish communities in western Hungary. A plaque outside lists the names of the local Jews deported to Auschwitz in the summer of 1944; only a small fraction returned.