The Castle Hill

Colloquially known as “The Var”, or Varhegy – Castle Hill is Buda’s most prominent feature – a long plateau dominating both Buda and across the river, Pest. Following a C13th invasion by the Mongols, it was decided by the inhabitants to secure the more defensible position and so a settlement was started, followed by a move of the Royal Family to the southern end and the building of a Gothic Palace.

By the C14th, the population had grown to some 8000 beings, but following the 75 day siege resulting in the defeat of the Turks who had been occupying for some 150yrs in 1686, sadly the numbers left in the area totalled no more than 300.

1715 saw the building of a smaller Baroque Palace, that over the years was added to and extended until what we have today – strangely never lived in by the Royal Family. For many centuries, residence in the area to the north of the Castle was granted as a privilege to religious or ethnic minorities occupying specific streets – this was also allowed to continue through the period of Turkish occupation, their tolerance allowing Sephardic Jews, Circassians and Armenians to settle. This right passed to Catholic and German settlers after the liberation from the Turks by a pan European army, led by the Habsburgs.

Along with the Szechenyi Library, there is the Museum of Music, housed in the Baroque Erdody Palace, where Beethoven was a guest in 1800 and Bartok had a workshop, containing a variety of many interesting instruments, including hurdy gurdies, bagpipes and a tongue shaped violin. The Muzeum of Commerce and Catering is also to be found here and the Medieval Prayer House; close by, the Telephone Museum and the Golden Pharmacy Museum.

Such was the prominence of the position that it has been built and rebuilt 86 times over seven centuries, the last battle being fought by the Wehrmacht and the Red Army, whilst the inhabitants of Buda cowered underground in the Labyrinth – cavities created by hot springs and cellars dug since medieval times affording some 10 kilometres of tunnels. These were used as air raid shelters during the 1930’s and again in WW2; some bizarre marketing has resulted in a somewhat surreal representation these days, but it is still worth a look. Sadly, this last devastation destroyed much of the Palace, the roof collapsed totally and most of the furniture destroyed - the damage done by the C19th rebellions having been made good by a restoration completed in 1904.

Here also is the Town Hall, used until the unification of 1873, the Trinity Column – a thanksgiving monument celebrating the demise of the Plague in 1713 and the tiny Ruszwurm patisserie, its décor dating from 1884, a café since 1827, developed on the site of gingerbread shop of the Middle Ages. Uniquely the area contains a statue much appreciated by students, of Hussar general András Hadik, a favourite of Empress Maria Theresia, mounted on a horse, its polished testicles due to the attention given by generations of engineering students before taking a taxing examination.

Mary Magdalene Tower is the last remnant of a C13th Franciscan church that was the only Christian church tolerated by the Turks, all other churches being converted into Mosques. The wall niches with seats, sedilla, are an example of the many Medieval features that have survived in this northern area where the street plan is very much as it has always been, as are the buildings that housed the first printing press and the building where the Janissaries were billeted in at the time of the Turkish occupation - streets of outstanding interest are Orszaghaz and Uri utca.

The four streets dating from the Middle Ages that run the length of Castle Hill converge in one place, where the market for non Jewish merchants was created, called the Vienna Gate. Despite of all of the rebuilding, the streets on the Hill follow their medieval plans, with Gothic arches and stone carvings in the courtyards and passages of C18th and C19th Baroque houses. Decorative iron work is in abundance here and most buildings have a plaque outlining its history, all being protected by a World Heritage Site governance. This is the perfect area for an evening stroll, accompanied by local children playing and pensioners, too, out for a walk, as the whole of the Hill has restricted access, so cars are seldom seen.

Refreshingly, most of the buildings are private residences, with two schools and a couple of hand printing press workshops. The Mattyas Church, originally C13th, was named after The Blessed Virgin Mary. Popular with Matthias – he was married twice here – some of it surviving the siege of 1686, its decorated interior having been painted over on its conversion to a Mosque and after the destruction at the end of WW 2, was rebuilt by the Communists and elevated to a position of “a national shrine of the Hungarian people”. Its stunningly decorated interior, a curious mixture of Deco and Medieval, is best savoured whilst attending a Mass – still held in Latin.

Probably the most famous image of the Castle Hill is that of Fishermans Bastion, named after the fishermans guild who were responsible for the defence of this part of the hill in the Middle Ages, on the site of a Medieval fish market. It is however, not very old, being built between 1890 and 1905 and its purpose is basically decorative – though this does not detract either from its beauty or the fantastic views that it affords of Buda, Pest and Margit Island. The seven pillars supporting a tent like roof represent the seven Magyar tribes and its fairytale like quality have made it one of the most popular tourist destinations in Budapest.

The National Gallery is housed at Castle Hill, as is the Budapest History Museum where you can visit the remains of a medieval palace via an C18th cellar, whilst in another chamber you can see remains of a red marble fireplace and carved stone portal fragments from the palace of King Matyas. The National Archives are to be found here, but they are not open to the public.

Below the hill is the area known as Vizivaros, originally a poor settlement of fishermen, craftsmen and their families. Following the expulsion of the Turks, it was repopulated by Croatian and Serbian mercenaries and their camp followers and is now quietly residential, with mansions and old buildings set at odd angles, reached by climbing steps from Fo utca - at night, sometimes through gas lit passages.