Budapest: A-Wander Around Buda Castle

We left the upper terrace of the Fisherman’s Bastion by way of the stairs at the other end, went for a walk to the far side where a café is housed in one of the bigger turrets, and talked about what to do next.

The Castle District, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is also a National Memorial. It is the oldest part of Budapest … the area richest in monuments. From 1247 onwards— except when under occupation— it was the administrative and political center of the Hungarian State. And until the mid-20th century the palace of the monarch, the prime minister’s office, and some ministries were also here, along with numerous foreign missions. Nowadays, it is the cultural center of the Hungarian State.

All this to say that there were plenty of places to visit. But we wanted to get away from the tourist sites and find some peace and quiet. So, we settled on an aimless meander of the back streets of the District. Here we found residential buildings; a tree-lined promenade with expansive views down and across Castle Hill; narrow alleys that afforded glimpses of steeples and towers with tile-roofs; and more. What we didn’t find was a whole lot of people. Perfect!

We stopped briefly at the historic Church of Saint Mary Magdalene … the tower of which is now often referred to as the Buda Tower. Not much remains of the church, which was constructed in the 13th century … after the Mongol invasion. Just a few foundation walls remain … and a partial reconstruction of what was back in the day a multi-story Gothic window. The tower has been restored, and it is possible to pay to climb the 170 steps to the top. We decided to take a pass today.

At the base of the Gothic window, we found a bronze replica of the coronation mantle of the Hungarian kings. It is the work of a sculptor by the name of Tibor Rieger, who worked on the piece for four years between 2000 and 2004. He opted to create the bell-shaped mantle completely spread out so that all of the detail is visible. Amazing detail at that.

A nearby plaque explained that the original mantle was donated by King St Stephen and Queen Gisela in 1031. It was made of Byzantine silk, embroidered with gold and silver. It was used in coronation ceremonies since the late 12th century. The plaque went on to say that it was worn by Francis I for his coronation at this location and last covered the shoulders of Charles IV in Matthias Church in 1916.

Instead of retracing our steps back to the hub-bub of the Castle District, we returned via Nándor Street. Another quiet street where we found buildings in need of some TLC … obviously the restoration project had not reached some of them. Where the street junctions with Fortuna, we got a closer look at the National Archives of Hungary, which was purpose built between 1913-1923 to “… serve as a repository for national treasures, holding the most extensive collection of fundamental charters, documents, and coats of arms created over the past thousand years of the country’s history. The oldest document preserved here dates back to 1109.”

It was only 2:30p when we got back to Trinity Square. But we’d been on our feet practically non-stop since 8:30a … with just a short break at the café. Our feet were making their displeasure known. So, we decided to call it quits for the day.

That didn’t mean that we would be taking a load off anytime soon, however. Nope, we still had to make our way down to the Danube and cross to the Pest side. I suppose we could have gotten an Uber or taken a public bus. But hey … these feet were made for walkin’ … aching or not. Back to the Fisherman’s Bastion we went to use the ceremonial staircase and make our way to the Chain Bridge by way of residential neighborhoods that gave us a peek at daily life.Lue lisää