Morning in the Buda Castle District

We spent a sunny morning in the Royal Castle District. Chilly, but sunny. Perfect for taking gorgeous photos and enjoying the clear panorama opened up focusing the other side of Duna including the Parlament. After we became a bit exhausted and a bit frozen through, we looked up the „StrudelCastle” where we could get not only fine strudels but also so-called bread-scone either salami or bacon on top. Hot tea was indispensible of course in order we can fill up suitably for the rest of our walking tour.

Some famous spots without aiming at completeness, in pictures and in some words:
Mátyás-templom / Matthias church was the scene of several coronations and numerous famous weddings. Currently it has 7 bells. The church was also a place of the so called Mary-wonder. In contemporary’s opinion, the victory of the pitched battle for Buda was attributed to a statue. The Turkish invaders did not distroy it, just walled it off. In 1686, during the siege of Buda the wall was collapsed due to cannonfire. It turned out that an old Madonna statue was hidden behind the wall. As the long-forgotten sculpture of the Virgin Mary appeared in front of the praying Muslims, the morale of the garrison collapsed, the superstitious fear of the witnesses overcame and the castle entered into possession of the Christians on the same day. The statue was carried round Buda streets and the place is a shrine since then. It is also home to the Ecclesiastical Art museum. The gallery contains a number of sacred relics and medieval stone carvings, along with replicas of the Hungarian royal crown and coronation jewels.

Halászbástya / Fisherman’s Bastion is a terrace in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style situated on the Buda bank of the Danube around Matthias Church. It was designed and built between 1895 and 1902 on the plans of Frigyes Schulek. Its seven towers represent the seven Hungarian tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in 896. The Bastion takes its name from the guild of fishermen that was responsible for defending this stretch of the city walls in the Middle Ages. It is a viewing terrace with many stairs and walking paths.