Hungary: Buda castle

The Seat of Hungarian Kings

Though a castle has existed at this site since 1265, the current Castle had to be extensively rebuilt after heavy damage during the Siege of Budapest in WW II.

Reconstructed by the Habsburg dynasty

The original Castle, after being sacked on more than one occasion by the Ottoman Turks, was eventually destroyed during the war to drive out the Ottomans. In 1715 the rising Habnsburgs began a Baroque reconstrcction.

Uri Utca, Gentlemen’s Street
The Castle Hill neighborhood on the Buda side of the Danube
The Matthias Church is the religious centerpuece of Castle Hill
Looking across Buda and the Danube to Parliament on the Pest side
Fisherman’s Bastion,, a medieval castle and part of the city wall dedicated to the fishermen who lived under its protection.
Lunch is served at one of the restaurants surrounding the castle
This long flight of steps lead off the Fisherman’s Bastion side of the Castle to a series of walkways and steps leading to the Danube at Chain Bridge
Under the Castle there is a series of limestone caves, some of which were used during WWII as a military hospital and in Soviet times as a nuclear bunker (Sorry, no pictures allowed there!).
This ruined chutch has a foundation that tells us its former size

Inside the Castle

Today’s Castle reflects the Habsburg design, as reconstructed once again after the damage done by long Russian siege of World War II.