The Kelenföld Montázs Centre is home to events, congregational gatherings, training sessions, community programmes and everyday encounters. We run a building with a past — one that today still welcomes a wide range of people, organisations and communities.
The building at Etele út 55 has long been part of life in Kelenföld. Many still associate it with the former Olimpia cinema — the period when this place was primarily a home for films, shared experiences and larger gatherings. The building's size, location and internal features already carried within them the idea that this would not be a place of solitary, closed rooms, but of events experienced together.
According to the original planners' intention, Kelenföld was not meant to become a mere "dormitory district". Alongside the housing estate, a centre was envisioned where people would not just come home at the end of the day, but would also run errands, shop, talk, be entertained and engage with culture. The shopping centre, the market, the library, the cultural centre, and the cinema — known first as the Etele and later as the Olimpia — all fitted into this vision.
The former Olimpia cinema was, for many, one of the memorable landmarks of the area. The entrance, the foyer, the auditorium, the screen and the other spaces linked to the cinema all recall the period when the building was primarily a home for films and shared cultural experiences. Today it serves a different function, but its scale, internal logic and central location still carry the sense that this is not a solitary, closed building, but a gathering point.
When we talk about the KMK today, we carry this legacy forward too. We are not doing the same thing as the former cinema, but we are seeking an answer to a very similar question: how can a large building in Kelenföld become a place people are glad to come to — where programmes, communities, conversations and encounters can take place?
Today, the theatre hall no longer shows a film programme, but hosts conferences, congregational gatherings, concerts, community events and talks. The hall, the smaller rooms, the café and the circulation spaces all contribute to making the building not merely a collection of rentable rooms, but a truly living house.
As a place with a Christian outlook, it matters to us to carry this past forward responsibly. We want to run an open, usable and welcoming place, but not a value-neutral one: we pay attention to ensuring that the programmes held here fit the spirit of the house, and in some way build up the people, communities or environment around them.
That is why, for us, the story of the KMK is not simply about a former cinema building becoming an event venue. It is rather about an old Kelenföld meeting point living on in a new form.
The entrance of the former Olimpia cinema, seen from Etele út. In the background, the Olimpia sign is still visible — for many years one of the well-known landmarks of the Kelenföld town centre.
Source: Facebook archive post – 1980, Bp. Olimpia cinema, Szakasits Árpád / Etele út
After the cinema closed, the community space we now know as the KMK slowly took shape. The milestones below trace the past decades.
Drag sideways or use the arrows to navigate between milestones.
After the change of political system, new mission-driven and community initiatives began springing up across Hungary. This period provided the wider backdrop from which the story of Montázs would later grow.
The organisational background that would go on to support ever more community and congregational initiatives in the following years came into being. It was from this work that the present-day mission of the Montázs Foundation later grew.
The former Olimpia cinema took on a new role: the building became one of Kelenföld's venues for community and congregational life. This marked the start of the process from which the Kelenföld Montázs Centre later emerged.
In the early years, the building's spaces were gradually adapted to their new functions. Through renovations and internal reconfiguration, more and more events, groups and communities found a home within its walls.
During this period, important preparations and major modernisation works took place. The building's operation was placed on a more stable footing, and developments began that would make the venue more usable in the long run.
New congregations, communities and ministries joined the building. The KMK increasingly became a place where a variety of community and congregational events could sit comfortably alongside one another.
Plans for the Montázs Art Café were completed, and the café opened in 2014. It brought fresh energy to life in the building, playing an important role not just as a service space but as a place for everyday encounters.
The KMK began hosting an increasing variety of programmes: congregational gatherings, training sessions, community events, and family and cultural programmes. By this time the building was not merely in use — it was truly full of life.
During the pandemic, running the building and holding communities together faced new challenges. In this period it became especially important that Montázs remained not just a venue, but a point of connection.
The energy crisis and the war brought further difficulties, but the building continued to operate. At the same time, helping others, offering welcome, and community responsibility took on a stronger presence in everyday life.
The Bátorítás Foundation officially continued its work under the name Montázs Foundation. The name change was not an ending, but a further step in linking the mission, the building and the community's presence even more clearly together.
The Montázs Art Café turned 10, and the building was now welcoming more than 120,000 visitors and around 1,400 events a year. This anniversary year was at once a time of looking back, of gratitude, and of planning for what lies ahead.
Today the KMK is at once a community space, an event venue and home to several interconnected services. Foundation work, room hire, a café, and congregational and community programmes all meet within the building. Together they make up what visitors today know as the Kelenföld Montázs Centre.
The community and values-based background
The Montázs Foundation provides the outlook and community background from which the KMK's operation also draws. It matters to us that the building is not merely a collection of rentable rooms, but also a home for constructive initiatives and communities.
Montázs Foundation websiteThe event venue
The KMK is the event-venue side of the building: rooms, technical facilities, quote requests, bookings and programmes. It hosts congregational gatherings, conferences, training sessions, and community, civic and cultural events.
The everyday meeting point
The Montázs Art Café is the building's more everyday, ground-floor connecting space. The café serves events, but also functions as a meeting point in its own right — a place for conversations, waiting, coffee breaks and community moments.
Montázs Café websiteThe operational background
Bátorítás Nonprofit Ltd. is connected to the building's operation, services and economic background. It helps ensure that room hire, the café, facility management and everyday operations run in an organised way.
Community and culture in numbers
Behind the running of the KMK stands a determined small team who work tirelessly on bookings, quote requests, invoicing, rooms, technical arrangements, the café and everything else that happens behind the scenes. They are the ones who make sure events don't just make it into the calendar, but actually run smoothly.
Managing Director
With Montázs since 2019
Bence oversees the strategic and executive running of the KMK. He works on longer-term decisions, the building's future, key partnerships and organisational direction, while making sure that day-to-day operations never lose sight of why the place was created.
Deputy Operations Director
With Montázs since 2014
Márk is a key figure in the day-to-day operation of the KMK. Behind the scenes, he works on coordinating processes, systems, organisational matters and practical operational tasks so that the events and rentals in the building run as predictably as possible.
Deputy Chair of the Montázs Foundation
With Montázs since 1999
Orsi leads work connected to the foundation's background, the community outlook, and the longer-term mission of Montázs. She plays an important role in ensuring the KMK works not merely as an event venue but as a space connected to congregations, communities and constructive initiatives.
Head of Technical and Facilities Management
With Montázs since 2012
Tamás oversees the technical and operational side of the building. His responsibilities include maintenance, repairs, preparations, practical questions related to room use, and all the background work without which a building of this size could not run reliably.
Finance and Marketing Associate
With Montázs since 2025
Zsófi is involved in the KMK's financial and communications work behind the scenes. She handles invoicing, quotes, financial administration, spreadsheets and processes, and also plays a part in developing the website, copy, marketing materials and online presence.
Cleaner
With Montázs since 2017
Mostafa works day after day to keep the building clean and tidy. His work happens behind the scenes, yet every guest, tenant and colleague experiences its results: he plays an important role in ensuring the rooms, corridors and shared spaces are ready and welcoming for everyone who arrives.
Communications and PR Associate
With Montázs since 2026
Anna helps with the KMK's communication, liaison and organisational tasks. She takes part in discussions with enquirers, tenants and partners, keeps track of incoming requests, helps clarify needs, and supports keeping the communication around bookings clear and personable.
Several organisations and communities operate, or hold regular events, within the KMK, and we have worked with them for a long time. They are not one-off tenants for us, but recurring, long-standing partners in the life of the building.
