Buda Castle facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Buda Castle
Buda Castle in 2013 with Matthias Church in the background
Location	Budapest, Hungary
Area	4.73 km2 (1.8 sq mi)
Built	14th–20th century
Architect	Jean Nicolas Jadot, Miklós Ybl, Alajos Hauszmann
Architectural style(s)	Medieval, Baroque, Baroque Revival, Art Nouveau
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name: Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv
Designated	1987 (11th session)
Reference no.	400-001
Region	Hungary
Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).

Buda Castle (Hungarian: Budavári Palota) is a famous historical castle and palace complex in Budapest, Hungary. It was once home to the Hungarian Kings. The first version was finished in 1265. The large Baroque palace you see today was mostly built between 1749 and 1769. People used to call it the Royal Palace or Royal Castle. Today, the castle houses the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest Historical Museum.

Buda Castle sits on the southern part of Castle Hill. It is surrounded by a popular area called Castle Quarter. This area is known for its old Medieval, Baroque, and Neoclassical buildings. These include houses, churches, and monuments. A funicular, which is like a small train on a slope, connects the hill to Széchenyi Chain Bridge. In 1987, Buda Castle became part of a World Heritage Site. The original Royal Palace was badly damaged during World War II. It was later rebuilt in a simpler style.

History of Buda Castle

How the Castle Grew in the Middle Ages

The first royal home on Castle Hill was built by King Béla IV of Hungary. This happened between 1247 and 1265.

The oldest part of the palace we see today was built in the 1300s. This was done by Stephen, Duke of Slavonia, who was King Louis I of Hungary's younger brother. Only the foundations of a strong tower, called Stephen's Tower, remain. King Louis I's Gothic palace was built around a small courtyard next to this tower.

King Sigismund made the palace much bigger. He also made its defenses stronger. As a powerful emperor, Sigismund wanted a grand royal home. He chose Buda Castle as his main residence. During his long rule, it became one of the largest Gothic palaces of the late Middle Ages. Buda was a key art center during this time.

Building started in the 1410s and was mostly done by the 1420s. Some smaller works continued until the king died in 1437. The palace was first mentioned in writing in 1437.

The most important part of Sigismund's palace was the northern wing. It was known as the Fresh Palace. On the top floor, there was a huge hall called the Roman Hall. It had a carved wooden ceiling. Big windows and balconies looked out towards the city of Buda. The palace's front was decorated with statues and a coat-of-arms. A bronze statue of Sigismund on a horse stood in front.

The southern part of the royal home had narrow outer courtyards. Two parallel walls ran down from the palace to the Danube River. The most impressive building was the Broken Tower. It was on the western side of the main courtyard and was never finished. The tower's basement was used as a dungeon. The upper floors likely held the royal jewels.

The last big building phase happened under King Matthias Corvinus. He finished the Gothic palace in the early years of his rule. The Royal Chapel, with its Lower Church, was probably built then.

After Matthias married Beatrice of Naples in 1476, Italian artists came to Buda. The Hungarian capital became the first place north of the Alps to embrace the Renaissance style. The king rebuilt the palace in an early Renaissance style. The main courtyard was updated, and an Italian loggia (an open-sided gallery) was added. Inside, two rooms had golden ceilings. One was the famous Bibliotheca Corviniana library. The palace's front was decorated with statues of important figures. In the middle of the court, there was a fountain with a statue of Pallas Athene.

Only small pieces of this Renaissance palace remain today. These include red marble railings and decorative tiles.

In his last years, Matthias Corvinus started a new Renaissance palace. It was on the eastern side of the Sigismund Courtyard. This Matthias Palace was not finished because the king died early. It had a grand red marble staircase at the front. The bronze gates were decorated with scenes of Hercules. A large bronze statue of Hercules greeted guests in the forecourt. This was where jousts (knightly contests) were held.

The palace's walled gardens were on the western slopes of Castle Hill. King Matthias built a Renaissance villa in the middle of these gardens. Only one column of this Aula Marmorea (Marble Hall) still exists.

After Matthias Corvinus died, King Vladislaus II continued work on the Matthias Palace. This was especially true after he married Anna of Foix-Candale in 1502.

Under King John Zápolya, the palace was repaired. Italian military engineers built the Great Rondella on the southern tip of Castle Hill. This round bastion is one of the main surviving parts of the old palace.

The Castle During the Ottoman Era

After the Battle of Mohács, the medieval Kingdom of Hungary fell apart. The Ottoman Turks took over Buda on September 11, 1526. The Royal Palace was not damaged then. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent took all the bronze statues with him to Constantinople. These statues were later destroyed in a rebellion. The Sultan also took many books from the Bibliotheca Corviniana.

In 1529, the Ottoman army attacked Buda again. The palace was badly damaged. On August 29, 1541, the Ottomans took Buda without a fight. Buda became part of the Ottoman Empire. Many original German and Hungarian people left the city. New people from the Ottoman Empire and the Balkans moved in.

Even though Turkish writers praised the beauty of the Hungarian kings' palace, the new Ottoman government let it fall apart. It was partly used as barracks, storage, and stables. Otherwise, it was empty.

The Turks called the palace Iç Kala ("Inner Castle") or Hisar Peçe ("Citadel"). Its favorite nickname was "Palace of the Golden Apples."

Buda's economy declined, and its population did not grow much. The Ottomans allowed the Hungarian royal palace to become ruins. The unused palace was later turned into a gunpowder storage by the Ottomans. This caused it to explode during the siege in 1686.

Between 1541 and 1686, the Habsburgs tried to recapture Buda many times. Unsuccessful attacks in 1542, 1598, 1603, and 1684 caused serious damage. The Ottomans only repaired the fortifications. Many buildings of the Royal Palace lost their roofs and their ceilings collapsed. Still, most of the medieval palace survived until the big siege of 1686.

The Medieval Castle is Destroyed

The medieval palace was destroyed in the great siege of 1686. This happened when Christian forces captured Buda.

In 1686, a new European Christian campaign began to take the city. The army was very large, with 65,000 to 100,000 soldiers. These included German, Hungarian, and many other European fighters. The Turkish defenders had about 7,000 men.

During heavy cannon fire, many buildings burned and collapsed. Stephen's Tower, used for gunpowder storage, exploded when hit by a single cannonball. This explosion reportedly killed 1,500 Turkish soldiers. It also caused a wave on the Danube River.

After the siege, Habsburg engineers made drawings of the surviving buildings. Although the walls mostly remained, the burned-out palace quickly fell apart. Between 1702 and 1715, Stephen's Tower completely disappeared. The palace was beyond repair. In 1715, King Charles III ordered the ruins to be torn down. The main part of the palace and the Broken Tower were completely demolished. The hollows and moats were filled in, creating a new flat area. The southern fortifications were buried under tons of rubble.

Building the Early Baroque Palace

In 1715, a small Baroque palace was built. It was a simple rectangular building with an inner courtyard. This building is the core of the current palace.

The inside of the palace was not finished when work stopped in 1719. In 1723, the palace accidentally burned down. Its windows were walled up to prevent more damage. Drawings from the 1730s and 1740s show the unfinished building.

The Era of Maria Theresa

In 1748, Count Antal Grassalkovich asked people to donate money to finish the palace. The Hungarian nobility and the Habsburgs had a good relationship then. Hungarians supported Queen Maria Theresa during a war. The queen was thankful, and the new Royal Palace became a symbol of peace.

Jean Nicolas Jadot, the chief architect from Vienna, drew the plans for a grand, U-shaped Baroque palace. After 1753, Nicolò Pacassi changed the plans. The foundation stone was laid on May 13, 1749, the Queen's birthday. Work continued well until 1758, when money problems caused a seven-year break. Only the interiors were left unfinished.

In 1764, the Queen visited the palace. She gave money for the work, which started again in 1765. Franz Anton Hillebrandt changed the main courtyard's front in Rococo style. In 1769, the St. Sigismund Chapel was blessed, and the palace was finished that same year.

Nuns, Scholars, and Palatines

The Queen did not plan to use the palace as her main home. In 1769, she gave one wing to the Sisters of Loreto. However, the elegant rooms were not suitable for a nunnery. In 1777, the Queen decided to move the University of Nagyszombat to Buda.

The nuns moved out, and the palace was quickly changed for the university. Classrooms, museums, a library, and a university press were built. A four-story observatory tower was added.

In 1778, Hillebrandt built a new chapel for Saint Stephen's mummified right hand. This relic was found by Queen Maria Theresa in 1771. The Chapel of the Holy Right was near the St Sigismund Chapel. It was octagonal outside and oval inside, with a dome.

The university's opening ceremony was on June 25, 1780. The throne room became a grand hall. It was decorated with paintings showing the four university subjects.

The university had problems, so its departments moved to Pest in 1783. In 1791, the palace became the home of the new Habsburg Palatine of Hungary. This was Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria. After his early death, his younger brother Archduke Joseph took over. The palatinal court in Buda Castle became the center of high society in Budapest.

In 1810, the palace was damaged by fire. In 1838, the crypt of the St. Sigismund Chapel was rebuilt. This Palatinal Crypt became the burial place for Palatine Joseph and his family. It is the only part of the palace that survived World War II.

Palatine Joseph created beautiful gardens on the southern and eastern hillsides. These were famous English-style landscape gardens.

Palatine Stephen left the palace in 1848 during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. On January 5, Buda was taken by the Austrian army. Their commander stayed in the royal palace.

On May 4, 1849, the Hungarian army attacked Buda Castle. The palace was the last place held by Austrian troops. It saw heavy fighting and artillery fire. The central and southern wings burned down completely. Their interiors were destroyed.

The Castle Under Franz Joseph

The palace was rebuilt between 1850 and 1856. The central wing was made taller with a third story. It also got a short tower on top. The central part was decorated with a balcony and six huge columns. These changes made the palace look more like a serious Neoclassical Baroque building.

The ballroom was redecorated with marble and fancy plasterwork. After 1853, grand rooms were designed in a French Rococo style. The palace was becoming too small. So, kitchens and service rooms were moved to the nearby Zeughaus (armory). A glass walkway connected the palace to the Zeughaus.

Two smaller buildings were put up on the western side of the main courtyard in 1854. One housed apartments for archdukes. The other was for the royal guards.

Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria visited Buda Castle in 1856 and 1857. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Franz Joseph was crowned King of Hungary. The palace played a big role in this grand ceremony. It showed the peace between the royal family and the nation.

In the late 1800s, Budapest grew very fast. Big city planning projects were done to show the city's wealth. Rebuilding Buda Castle was a special focus. The Hungarian government wanted a royal palace as grand as any in Europe. The rebuilding took forty years, from 1875 to 1912. It changed the whole area.

First, the Várkert-bazár (Royal Garden Pavilion) was built by the Danube River. This happened between 1875 and 1882. This Neo-Renaissance gateway was designed by Miklós Ybl. It had open arches, pavilions, stairs, and two apartment blocks. Ybl also built a new water pumping station and two stair towers.

In 1882, Prime Minister Kálmán Tisza asked Ybl to draw a master plan for the palace. Ybl's 1885 plan kept the old Baroque palace. But he added a mirror image of it on the western side of the main courtyard. This doubled the size of the residence. He also planned a new road on the western hillside. This meant tearing down medieval walls. The natural flat area of Castle Hill was too narrow for the new Krisztinaváros wing. Ybl solved this by building a huge foundation down to the foot of the hill. The massive western front sits on this three-story, windowless foundation. The whole building covered almost the entire hill. The main front on the courtyard had the same height as the Baroque palace. The front was covered with stone slabs. The old parts were covered with stucco. So, you could see the difference between the old Baroque and the new Neo-Renaissance parts. The formerly open courtyard became a closed one. It had an arched gateway guarded by four lion statues by János Fadrusz. This court is called Lions Court.

Work started on May 1, 1890. But Ybl died in 1891. His replacement, Alajos Hauszmann, changed the plans slightly. In 1896, the building reached the courtyard level. King Franz Joseph officially laid the foundation stone.

In 1893, King Franz Joseph's 25th coronation anniversary was celebrated. The old banqueting hall was too small. So, Hauszmann made the room bigger.

Even with these changes, the palace was still not big enough for huge royal events. So, more building began. Hauszmann designed the north wing from scratch. He made the Baroque palace on the Danube side twice as big. He copied its traditional style. Where the old and new wings met, a columned entrance was built. It had a richly decorated triangle-shaped area above it. This area had statues by Károly Sennyey. A set of stairs called the Habsburg Stairs led up to it. The whole palace was topped with a dome. It had a copy of the Crown of St. Stephen at its very top. The dome showed German Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) influences. The back of the palace, facing the western forecourt, also had these influences. This forecourt also has the Matthias Fountain by sculptor Alajos Stróbl. Above the main gate, there was a statue of the Goddess Hungaria.

Hauszmann designed a new riding school. It was in the former Újvilág terrace. This area was renamed the Csikós court. This was after the Csikós statue by György Vastagh. In front of the long Danube side, a statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy was put up. He was a victorious leader of the Habsburg army. The eastern forecourt was closed off with a fancy iron fence. It ended in a pillar topped by a statue of the legendary Turul, a sacred bird of the Magyars. Two sets of stairs led up to Szent György tér.

In the western forecourt, Hauszmann designed a new guardhouse. He also rebuilt the old Royal Stables. The Royal Gardens on the southern hillside were famous for their rare plants and beautiful terraces. In the middle of the gardens was the Swiss House of Queen Elisabeth. It was filled with Hungarian folk art.

The inside of the palace was decorated by leading Hungarian artists. The Royal Palace was officially opened in 1912. People at the time said it was the most outstanding Hungarian building of that era.

Between Wars and World War II

The Hauszmann palace existed for about thirty years. On December 30, 1916, the last Hungarian king, Charles IV, was crowned there. After the 1918 revolution and the end of the Habsburg rule, the Royal Palace became the home of the new regent of Hungary, Miklós Horthy. Horthy lived in the Krisztinaváros wing with his family from 1920 to 1944. During this time, the palace was the center of Hungarian political and social life. Famous guests included King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy in 1937 and Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (who later became Pope Pius XII) in 1938.

On October 16, 1944, a German commando unit took over the Royal Palace. They forced the regent to step down. Buda Castle was the last major stronghold held by German and Hungarian forces during the Battle of Budapest. This siege lasted from December 29, 1944, to February 13, 1945. The forces defending the castle tried to break out on February 11, 1945, but failed. This is seen as one of the biggest disasters in Hungarian military history.

Heavy fighting and artillery fire turned the palace into ruins. The furniture disappeared, roofs and ceilings collapsed, and the southern and western wings burned out. The destruction was similar to the great siege of 1686.

Rebuilding the Castle

Right after the war, people started digging to find the remains of the medieval castle. This was a huge project. The old Royal Gardens, with their stairs and glass houses, had to be removed. Important parts of the old Sigismund and Matthias Palace were found hidden under thick layers of earth.

The first plan to rebuild the medieval parts was made in 1950. The work was finished in 1966. The medieval defense system was rebuilt completely. Important parts like the 16th-century Great Rondella and the medieval Gatehouse were put back together. This was based on what archaeologists found and old pictures. The lower southern wing of the Gothic palace was also rebuilt. This included the Gothic Hall and the Lower Church of the Royal Chapel. Gardens in the medieval style were planted. The foundation of Stephen's Tower was found, but the tower itself was not rebuilt.

Rebuilding the medieval defenses greatly changed how Budapest looked. At the time, it was seen as a very successful project.

In the 1970s, more archaeological work continued. Many important things were found, including Late Gothic Buda Castle Statues. The Karakash Pasha Tower, which was a Turkish-era tower, was also rebuilt.

Modernizing the Palace

The government decided to rebuild in 1948. Photos showed that many important interiors were damaged, but could have been fixed. However, the new communist government saw the Royal Palace as a symbol of the old system. So, they decided to completely modernize the palace, both inside and out. Modern architects also thought the old Hauszmann style was "too fancy."

The first modern plan was made in 1950. In the 1950s, the palace was stripped bare. All remaining interiors, even undamaged ones, were destroyed. Important outside details like the main entrance, the Habsburg Steps, and the dome were torn down. The remaining walls were simplified. Fancy gates were removed. The church door disappeared. The detailed Neo-Baroque roofs were simplified, and plain new windows were put in. The statues on the main entrance were destroyed.

At the same time, medieval parts were uncovered and rebuilt. Since there were no exact drawings, they were rebuilt based on guesses.

The modern dome was designed in 1961. The palace was rebuilt by 1966. But the inside spaces were not ready until the 1980s. Buda Castle became a cultural center. It now holds three museums and the National Széchényi Library.

Buda Castle in the 21st Century

In 2006, a long-term plan for Buda Castle was made. It suggested rebuilding parts of the outside, including the dome and the Habsburg Steps. No final decision has been made about this plan.

In 2007, the Prime Minister announced important public projects. These were funded by the European Union. One project was to build an underground garage for 700 cars. This started in 2008. A part of the 15th-century castle wall had to be torn down for this. This caused criticism from archaeologists. They had found many important things there, like medieval children's toys and a tooth from King Matthias Corvinus's pet leopard. Financial problems stopped the garage construction in 2009. Work started again briefly in 2011 but stopped again. The government later bought the half-built garage and provided money to finish it in 2015.

The castle courtyard was also used for Katy Perry's 2010 music video, "Firework".

The government started the "National Hauszmann Program" to bring the castle back to life. This program is named after Alajos Hauszmann, the last main architect of the castle. The first part of the program began in 2016. By 2019, the Royal Riding Hall, Stöckl Staircase, and Castle Guards' Barracks were rebuilt. More reconstructions were announced, including Archduke Joseph's Palace.

In 2019, the prime minister's office moved to the castle.

Inside the Castle: Rooms and Halls

The interiors from the time of Maria Theresa and Franz Joseph were mostly destroyed during World War II. The Palatinal Crypt is the only part that survived. We don't have much information about the medieval and early Baroque interiors. However, the palace built around 1900 was well-documented with descriptions and photos. Architect Alajos Hauszmann said the royal apartments were "longer than any similar royal apartments in continental Europe except Versailles."

Some medieval rooms were found and rebuilt after the war. They are now part of the Budapest History Museum.

Medieval Rooms

The Castle Chapel

The first chapel in the castle was likely built in the 1300s. King Sigismund rebuilt the old castle in the early 1400s. He built a Gothic church where the old chapel was. This church was similar to the famous Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.

Archaeological digs confirmed the church's age. In 1489, Sultan Bayezid II sent relics to King Matthias Corvinus. The King put these relics in the Royal Chapel. In 1526, Buda was looted by the Ottoman Turks. The relics were saved and moved to Pressburg. A church list from 1530 shows how rich its furnishings were. Later, King John Zápolya turned the lower church into a defense point. Its large Gothic windows were walled up.

In 1541, the Ottoman Turks took Buda. The Royal Church was no longer used for Christian worship. The upper church was destroyed in the 1686 siege. Its ruins were torn down in 1715. The lower church's ceiling collapsed and its inside filled with trash. It was then buried under the new Baroque terrace for two centuries.

The ruins of the lower church were found by archaeologists in 1949. The chapel was finally rebuilt by 1963. It was blessed again in 1990.

The Gothic Hall

The Gothic Hall is a key example of old Gothic architecture in Central Europe. King Sigismund built it in the early 1400s. It was an addition to the earlier palace. It was built on the southern edge of the Castle Hill's natural rock. A vaulted cellar was built under the hall to deal with the height difference.

The Gothic Hall is an uneven rectangle. It has two main sections with Gothic arched ceilings. These ceilings are supported by two large pillars. The hall has four windows, two on the south and two on the east. Stone benches are in the window areas. The hall was connected to the palace through a door in the northern wall.

All the new side walls were plastered and painted white. The original stone surfaces were left uncovered. The arches and window areas were restored in 1961–62.

Barrel-Vaulted Rooms

Three connected barrel-vaulted rooms are the oldest part of the palace. They belong to Stephen's Castle, built in the 1300s. The northern room is larger than the southern ones. The northern room has an east-west arched ceiling. The southern rooms have north-south arched ceilings.

The southern room connects to the inner courtyard through a doorway. There is a small window high on the western wall. The middle room has a similar window. The larger northern room has three narrow windows. The rooms were connected by carved Gothic doors. The walls were originally plastered. In the southern room, a medieval stairway led to a hidden toilet.

These barrel-vaulted rooms were likely used as a prison in the Middle Ages. Later, the southern ceilings collapsed. The intact northern room's ceiling was broken when the cellar was filled with rubble. The barrel-vaulted rooms were restored in 1958–1962.

King's Cellar

The King's Cellar is not medieval. It is a Baroque-era brick cellar under the Danube side of Building E. It was filled with tons of earth and rubble. The original eastern front of the medieval royal palace survived under this fill. The inner walls of the Baroque palace were built on top of the old front. Only the 7-meter-high basement part of the original front remained.

This part was built by King Sigismund in the early 1400s. King Matthias Corvinus rebuilt it 50 years later. The surviving eastern front was made from large, finely carved stone blocks. It followed the shape of Castle Hill. A support was added, and a rectangular tower with two supports on its corners. The lower part of a balcony on the tower was rebuilt. It had three elegant Gothic supports.

It was not possible to tear down the King's Cellar because the whole Baroque palace rested on it. The fill inside was removed in 1961. The medieval front was rebuilt inside the cellar space between 1961 and 1965. Large windows were cut into the outer wall to let in daylight. Today, you can see the palace's history by looking at the layers of the past.

In 2007, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány chose the King's Cellar to announce important public projects.

Baroque and Historic Rooms

Old Ceremonial Rooms

Grand Throne Room

The Grand Throne Room, once called the ballroom, was on the first floor of the Baroque wing. It had several layers of Baroque decoration from the 1700s and 1800s. Drawings show its oldest form. After the 1849 siege, the room was redecorated. In 1892, the old ballroom was rebuilt with a new ceiling and a gallery. It was made even bigger after 1896. This room became the main throne hall. In the early 1900s, it had white-golden Rococo decorations and three large chandeliers.

Paintings by Vinzenz Fischer were found in 1953 during rebuilding. But all the decoration layers were destroyed. Today, it holds the Gothic altar collection of the Hungarian National Gallery.

Old Royal Apartments

Smoking Room

The Smoking Room was on the first floor of the Baroque wing. It was in the middle of the Danube side of the old palace. In the Baroque era, it was the "Bedchamber of Their Imperial and Royal Majesties." It was the only shared room of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I. In the early 1900s, the walls were mostly covered with wallpaper. It had Rococo furniture and paintings.

South Wing

Baroque Court

The Baroque Court is a rectangular courtyard. It is the oldest part of the Baroque palace. The original 18th and 19th-century fronts survived here. In 1997, the court was covered with a glass roof. It became the main exhibition hall of the Budapest History Museum.

King's Staircase

The King's Staircase was the main Baroque staircase of the southern wing. It led to the private apartments of Emperor Francis I. Both the King's Staircase and the Diplomat's Staircase had fancy gates opening onto Lions Court. These gates were decorated with strong figures. The kitchens were originally on the ground floor of the southern wing.

Central Wing

St Stephen's Chapel

St Stephen's Chapel, also known as St. Sigismund Chapel or Castle Church, was at the western end of this wing. It had no outside walls, only a door opening onto Lions Court. Building finished in 1768, and the church was blessed in 1769. Its design followed a typical "violin" shape popular in Baroque churches then. It had a rectangular altar area and a main room with four sections for side altars.

Photos from the 20th century show that the church survived in its Baroque form until the war. During a siege, parts of the church's ceiling collapsed, and furniture was stolen. The Castle Church was left to decay for over ten years. In 1957, the remaining ceilings collapsed, and the church was completely destroyed. It was turned into exhibition spaces.

Palatinal Crypt

The Palatinal Crypt was under the old palace chapel. It is the only surviving room of the entire Royal Castle. This underground crypt was first used for burials between 1770 and 1777. In 1820, Palatine Joseph's infant daughter was buried there. Later, his 13-year-old son followed. Palatine Joseph decided to make the crypt a family burial place. Work finished in 1838. Other family members were reburied there. Palatine Joseph himself was buried on January 13, 1847. The crypt was continuously used by the Hungarian branch of the Habsburg family. It was restored and decorated with new art over time. The last family member buried there was Archduchess Clotilde in 1927. The crypt survived the war without damage. It was also saved during the post-war rebuilding.

The crypt was robbed in 1966 and 1973. It was then restored from 1985 to 1987. Since then, the Palatinal Crypt has been part of the Hungarian National Gallery's exhibition.

North Wing

Grand Ballroom

The Grand Ballroom was in the middle of the northern wing. It took over the role of the smaller old ballroom. Designed by Hauszmann, it was the most magnificent room in the palace. This two-story room was richly decorated with plasterwork, columns, and crystal chandeliers. Seven arched windows opened onto a columned terrace facing the western forecourt. On the other side, the ballroom connected to the Dining Hall.

Photos taken after the war show the room with its ceiling collapsed. The ballroom was not restored. It was completely destroyed during the post-war changes.

Habsburg Hall

The Habsburg Hall was in the middle of the long palace complex. It was under Hauszmann's dome, where the new northern wing met the old palace. This grand room was entirely Hauszmann's design. It was one of three historical rooms in the palace. It showed important periods of Hungarian history. A grand double staircase, called the Habsburg Steps, connected the room to the Royal Gardens. The room had rich Baroque decorations. The ceiling was decorated with Károly Lotz's painting, Apotheosis of the Habsburg Dynasty. Four marble statues of important figures stood in front of the walls.

The Habsburg Hall survived World War II mostly undamaged. But in the 1950s, it was destroyed for political reasons.

Krisztinaváros Wing

The Krisztinaváros wing faces the district of Krisztinaváros. This area was named after Queen Maria Theresa's daughter.

Main Staircase

The huge main staircase had three flights of stairs. It led from the lobby to the first floor in a bright, glass-roofed hall. The side walls were decorated in Italian Renaissance style. They had huge columns and plasterwork. Fancy iron chandeliers and railings decorated the stairs. On the ground floor, huge Atlas statues stood by the side pillars. They looked like they were holding up the upper stairs. These marble statues were made by János Fadrusz in 1897. During the post-war rebuilding, the main staircase was completely modernized. Only the two huge Atlas statues survived. They now stand near their original places.

St Stephen's Room

St Stephen's Room was on the first floor of the Krisztinaváros wing. It was one of the palace's "historical rooms." It connected the new Private Royal Apartments to the Old Royal Apartments. Its style reminded people of the Árpáds, Hungary's first royal family. The walls were covered with dark carved wood. The most impressive part was a large stone fireplace. It had Romanesque Revival details and a statue of King Saint Stephen. The room was furnished with medieval-looking metal chandeliers and heavy wooden furniture. It was completely destroyed in World War II.

In 2016, the rebuilding of St Stephen's Room was announced. After years of careful work, the room was accurately restored. It opened to the public on August 20, 2021.

Matthias Room

The Matthias Room was named after King Matthias Corvinus. He ruled in the late Middle Ages. It was one of the three "historical rooms" of the palace. The room opened from the Royal Bedroom. It had three windows looking towards the hills of Buda. There was a long terrace in front of the room. The Matthias Room was in Renaissance style. It had carved wooden panels and a patterned ceiling. It was furnished with a fireplace and two chandeliers. The most impressive item was a statue of King Matthias on a horse. This statue was saved after the war. It is now displayed in the Hungarian National Gallery.

Strong Room

The Hungarian crown jewels were kept in the special Strong Room. This was on the second floor of the Krisztinaváros Wing. The Crown of Saint Stephen was kept here between 1900 and 1944.

Queen Elisabeth Memorial Museum

The small Queen Elisabeth Memorial Museum was on the second floor of the Krisztinaváros Wing. It was created to remember Queen Elisabeth after she was murdered in 1898. The museum opened on January 15, 1908. It had personal items, letters, and clothes. Its most important item was the costume Elisabeth wore when she was murdered. One room was carefully recreated as the Queen's own writing room. It had her original desk and 219 Hungarian books. The museum was badly damaged during World War II. The surviving items were given to other museums.

Private Royal Apartments

Royal Bedroom

The king's bedroom had two windows looking towards the hills of Buda. It had a white-golden stucco ceiling. The walls were covered with floral wallpapers. The room had a crystal chandelier, the royal bed with a canopy, and a folding screen. The bedroom connected to a dressing room, a private bathroom, and smaller rooms for servants.

Artworks and Sculptures at the Castle

The castle and its gardens have been decorated with art since the 1300s. We only know about the most important medieval works from old writings. But we have detailed pictures and information about the 19th-century art. This art was mostly created by important Hungarian artists of that time. Many statues survived the destruction during the siege of Budapest in 1944–45. They were later restored. However, important artworks were destroyed during the controversial rebuilding of the castle in the 1950s and 1960s.

Sculptural Monuments

Matthias Fountain (Mátyás kútja)

This amazing fountain decorates the western forecourt of the palace. It shows a group of hunters led by King Matthias Corvinus. There are also hounds, a killed deer, and other figures. This group stands among rocks with water flowing down into a basin. Sculptor Alajos Stróbl made the fountain. The damaged sculpture was restored after the war. Today, it is probably the most photographed object at the palace.

Monument of Prince Eugene of Savoy

The statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy on horseback stands on the Danube terrace. It is in a very visible spot, high above Budapest. Sculptor József Róna made this Neo-Baroque statue. It was bought in 1900 as a temporary solution. It was supposed to be replaced by a statue of King Franz Joseph, but that never happened. So, Prince Eugen stayed on his base. The base has two bronze pictures. They show the capture of earth-works and a key cavalry charge in the Battle of Zenta in 1697.

Horseherd (Csikós)

The statue of the Hortobágy National Park horseherd taming a wild horse used to stand in front of the Riding School. György Vastagh made it in 1901. The statue was shown at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900. The damaged statue was removed in the 1960s. But it was later restored and put in the western forecourt in 1983, next to the Matthias Fountain. It was moved back to its original spot in front of the restored riding school in 2021.

Turulbird (Turulmadár)

The mythological Turul bird, high above the Danube, was made by Gyula Donáth in 1905. Its base and the fancy Neo-Baroque railing were badly damaged during the siege of Buda. But they were restored in 1981. The broken coat-of-arms of the Kingdom of Hungary on the base was also fixed.

Fishing Children

The Fountain of the Fishing Children on the Danube terrace was made by sculptor Károly Senyei in 1912. It shows two children struggling with a fish. The detailed work on the fishing net is amazing. The fountain was removed in 1955. It was put back in its original place in 1976. It was restored in 2001.

Csongor and Tünde

These two statues show Csongor and Tünde. They are characters from a play by Mihály Vörösmarty. They originally decorated the Habsburg Steps in front of the palace. Sculptor Miklós Ligeti made them in 1903. The steps were torn down after the war. But the statues were saved. They were put back in 1976 on simple concrete bases near their original spots.

Lions

Two pairs of lions guard the grand gate leading into Lions Court. János Fadrusz made these four statues in 1901. The lions on the outside of the gate look calm. The inner ones look fierce. One lion was broken during the war. But it was rebuilt in the 1950s.

War and Peace

The huge bronze statues of War and Peace stand by the entrance to the Budapest History Museum. They are by Károly Senyei. Both War and Peace are shown as angels. One has a trumpet, the other an olive branch. Under the angel of Peace is a returning soldier. Under the angel of War are a dead Ottoman soldier and ancient Hungarian warriors.

There are also burial monuments in the Palatinal Crypt. They are decorated with statues by famous sculptors.

Museums and Institutions at Buda Castle

The Budapest History Museum is in the southern wing of Buda Castle (Building E). It covers four floors. It shows the history of Budapest from its start to modern times. The rebuilt medieval castle parts, like the Royal Chapel and the Gothic Hall, are part of the exhibition. Highlights include the Gothic statues found at Buda Castle. Also, a 14th-century silk tapestry with old coats of arms. Small gardens have been recreated in the medieval courtyards around the oldest parts of the building.

The Hungarian National Gallery is in Buildings A, B, C, and D. This museum shows the history of Hungarian art from the 11th century to today. It has a special exhibition of Gothic altarpieces. The only surviving interior from the pre-war Royal Palace, the Palatinal Crypt, belongs to this museum.

"Building F" is home to the National Széchényi Library. This is Hungary's national library. It has a collection of rare and old books, including 35 special books from King Matthias Corvinus's famous library. The original library was in the medieval Royal Castle of Buda.

The Cellars and Caves

During the Ottoman era, the large cave system was used by hunters. They stored tigers and Hungarian mountain bears there.

The cellars also held a fancy wine collection. This wine came from the Egri wine region in northern Hungary.

Honors

Hungary has issued postage stamps showing the castle on these dates: March 26, 1926; June 1, 1967; and April 30, 1986.

See also

• Alcsút Palace
• Archduke Joseph's Palace
• Gödöllő Palace, summer residence of the Hungarian monarchs
• The House of Houdini
• Medieval Royal Palace (Buda Castle)
• Palace Chapel (Buda Castle)
• Palatinal Crypt
• Hofburg Palace
• Sándor Palace, residence of the president of Hungary
• List of castles in Hungary

Images for kids

• 

  Buda Castle in 2013 with Matthias Church in the background

• 

  Plan of Buda Castle: buildings A, B, C, D – Hungarian National Gallery, building E – Budapest Historical Museum, building F – National Széchényi Library. Underneath building C is the Palatinal Crypt with 3 rooms.

• 

  Eastern view of the Medieval Royal palace (1490s)

• 

  Buda Castle in the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493

• 

  Southern view of the Medieval Royal palace (1520s)

• 

  The reconstructed medieval fortifications and the Great Rondella

• 

  Georg Houfnagel's view of Buda in 1617

• 

  The Holy League took Buda after a long siege in 1686

• 

  The great siege of Buda (1686); contemporary drawing

• 

  The royal castle built under King Charles III (1733)

• 

  The royal castle during the reign of Maria Theresa (1777)

• 

  The façade of the cour d'honneur constructed under Hillebrandt in the 1760s

• 

  Archduke Joseph Anton, Palatine of Hungary, resided in the castle.

• 

  Buda Castle before its remodeling in the 1880s

• 

  View of the castle before its remodeling, as seen from the Danube

• 

  The Danube terrace with Eugene of Savoy's monument

• 

  Royal procession in the western courtyard (1880s)

• 

  The western forecourt with the facade of the Grand Ballroom

• 

  View of the dome and the terrace with Prince Eugene's monument (1926)

• 

  The Royal Palace in the 1930s

• 

  The burned-out ruins of the Royal Palace and the Chain Bridge (1946)

• 

  The modernist dome designed by Lajos Hidasi in 1961. Vast amounts of art work and sculpture on the exterior and almost all of the interior that survived the war were intentionally destroyed during the postwar reconstruction.

• 

  Aerial view of the castle in 2006

• 

  From left to right: the reconstructed Royal Riding Hall, Castle Guards' Barracks and Stöckl Staircase in 2019

• 

  The lower chapel of the medieval castle

• 

  Buda Castle in the Middle Ages, from the Chronicles of Hartmann Schedel. The castle church, dedicated to St. John the Almoner, is indicated by the blue rectangle.

• 

  Tomb of Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary in the Palatinal Crypt

• 

  The Grand Ballroom

• 

  The Habsburg Hall

• 

  Wing facing the district of Krisztinaváros

• 

  The Grand Staircase

• 

  St Stephen's Room

• 

  Matthias Room

• 

  Hungarian Crown on display at the Strong Room

• 

  Bedroom of the king

• 

  Matthias Fountain, before its renovation

• 

  Monument of Prince Eugene of Savoy

• 

  The mythological Turul bird, before its renovation

• 

  Statue of the horseherd, before its renovation

• 

  Fishing Children by Károly Senyei, before its renovation

• 

  One of the lions in the inner courtyard

• 

  The Zenta Room

• 

  The Audience Antechamber

• 

  The Grand Throne Room (c. 1894)

• 

  The White Antechamber

• 

  The Coronation Room

• 

  The Small Throne Room

• 

  The "Circle" Tearoom

• 

  Antechamber, former dressing room of the Queen

• 

  The Smoking Salon, former bedchamber of Queen Maria Theresa

• 

  The Writing Room

• 

  The Parlour

• 

  Antechamber

• 

  Entrance to the King's Staircase

• 

  St Stephen's Chapel

• 

  Tomb of Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary in the Palatinal Crypt

• 

  The Grand Ballroom

• 

  The Dining Hall

• 

  The Habsburg Hall

• 

  Wing facing the district of Krisztinaváros

• 

  The Grand Staircase

• 

  St Stephen's Room

• 

  Matthias Room

• 

  Hungarian Crown on display at the Strong Room

• 

  The Entrance Hall

• 

  Antechamber

• 

  The Audience Room

• 

  Writing room in the royal suite

• 

  Bedroom of the king

• 

  The Dining Room

• 

  The "Circle" Room

• 

  The Dining Room in the royal guest suite

• 

  Matthias Fountain, before its renovation

• 

  Monument of Prince Eugene of Savoy

• 

  The mythological Turul bird, before its renovation

• 

  Statue of the horseherd, before its renovation

• 

  Fishing Children by Károly Senyei, before its renovation

• 

  One of the lions in the inner courtyard