Not far north of the Royal Palace on Castle Hill sits Matthias Church (Matyas Templom). It’s a magnificent late-Gothic church, with a stunningly patterned roof tiles.

As with many of Budapest’s landmark buildings, the Matthias Church has a complicated history of construction, destruction, and revival. The original Gothic church was built in the thirteenth century. It was turned into a mosque when the Turks occupied Budapest in the sixteenth century; its treasures were carted off and the ancient frescoes were whitewashed over. When Budapest was liberated from the Turks in 1686, the church was nearly destroyed. Efforts were made to rebuild, and reconstruction according to the original Gothic plans, using what materials remained from the original church, was finally completed in 1896. Only the foundations, columns, and some of the walls date back to the original church.

The rose window is an exact replica of the original rose window. The tower to its left is called the “Bela Tower” after King Bela IV, during whose reign the church was originally built. (The tall tower to the right is the “Matthias Tower” after King Matthias Corvinus, who ruled in the fifteenth century.)

The “Mary Portal” on the south side of the church is noted for its fine Gothic tracery.

The plaza south of the church–enclosed by the Fisherman’s Bastion–contains a fine statue of King Stephen I (Szent Istvan), who united various competing tribes in the region into the kingdom of Hungary, and who brought Christianity to the realm. He was annointed king of Hungary on Christmas day in the year 1000, and he was cannonized the year of his death–1038. Stephen is the patron saint of Hungary.

The Fisherman’s Bastion was built on the site of a former fish market.

The views from the Fisherman’s Bastion are stunning.