Castle Hill () is a hill in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

's 1st district. Geographically, it is connected to the

Buda Hills The Buda Hills ( Hungarian: ''Budai-hegység'') are a low mountain range of numerous hills which dot the Buda side of Budapest, capital of Hungary. The most famous ones located within city limits are Gellért Hill, Castle Hill, Rózsadomb, , ...

and

Rose Hill Rose Hill may refer to: People * Rose Hill (actress) (1914–2003), British actress * Rose Hill (athlete) (born 1956), British wheelchair athlete Film * ''Rose Hill'' (film), a 1997 movie Places Australia * Rose Hill, New South Wales * Rose ...

(''Rózsadomb''). The Castle Quarter (''Várnegyed'') is located on the top of the hill with many monuments around the

Buda Castle Buda Castle (, ), formerly also called the Royal Palace () and the Royal Castle (, ), is the historical castle and palace complex of the King of Hungary, Hungarian kings in Budapest. First completed in 1265, the Baroque architecture, Baroque pa ...

. The area is one of the most popular attractions in the capital, and can be accessed by bus or in the carriages of a

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

(''Budavári sikló'').

Background

The hill rises to a height of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

on the right bank of the

Danube River The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

, part of the

, between

Gellért Hill Gellért Hill (; ; ) is a high hill overlooking the Danube in Budapest, Hungary. It is located in the 1st and the 11th districts. The hill was named after Saint Gerard who was thrown to death from the hill. The famous Hotel Gellért and th ...

and

. it is approximately long and wide. It can be reached by

from the direction of the river and by bus from the

city center A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms that exist in ...

. The hill is mainly composed of Buda marl. During the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

era, thick layer of

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...

was deposited, protecting from erosion. Freshwater springs formed the cavities of the . The Castle Quarter (''Várnegyed'') refers to the area located within the

defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with t ...

s and

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

s of the

complex, corresponding with the medieval royal city of

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

. It is the oldest part of Budapest and the center of the quarter lies between the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania {, class="wikitable" width="95%" , - bgcolor="white" !align=center, Residence !align=center, Photo !align=center, City !align=cen ...

and the

Matthias Church The Church of the Assumption of the Buda Castle (), more commonly known as the Matthias Church () and more rarely as the Coronation Church of Buda, is a Catholic church in Holy Trinity Square, Budapest, Hungary, in front of the Fisherman's Bastion ...

History

All Hungarian kings have added something to the fort or the palace. King Béla IV built the first fort on Castle Hill between 1247 and 1265 after a

first Mongol invasion of Hungary The first invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary by the Mongol Empire started in March 1241. The Mongols started to withdraw in late March 1242. Background Mongol invasion of Europe The Hungarians had first learned about the Mongol threat in 122 ...

in 1242. Béla surrounded the settlement with fortified walls. The neighborhood grew with Hungarians and Germans, and the first royal palace was built. During the first half of the

14th century The 14th century lasted from 1 January 1301 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCCI) to 31 December 1400 (MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and natural disasters in both Euro ...

was built, named after

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

, son of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

. Prince Stephen's brother, who later became King Louis I, relocated his seat from Visegrád to

in 1347 and began construction of the royal palace and its defense system, which lasted two centuries. Louis's buildings were located north of Stephen's Tower, and his palace overlooked the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. When he was

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it ''Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

enlarged the palace and strengthened its fortifications. Construction on the ''Fresh Palace'' (Hungarian: ''Friss-palota'') began in the 1410s and was largely finished in the 1420s, although some minor works continued until the death of Sigismund in 1437. In 1458,

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

led the last phase of large-scale building activity. During the first decades of his reign he finished the work on the Gothic palace, and the Royal Chapel, with the surviving Lower Church. Matthias' successor, Vladislaus II, carried on the works of the ''Matthias Palace''. Under Ottoman rule, the palace fell into decay. The medieval palace was destroyed in the great siege of 1686 when Buda was captured by allied Christian forces. With the expulsion of the Ottomans, reconstruction of the castle began and would continue for the next 150 years. Construction accelerated during the reign of

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

at the request of the Hungarian nobility. After the 1867 Austro-Hungarian pact, there was a need for a representative royal palace in Buda. In 1881 architect

Miklós Ybl Miklós Ybl (6 April 1814 in Székesfehérvár – 22 January 1891 in Budapest) was one of Europe's leading architects in the mid to late nineteenth century as well as Hungary's most influential architect during his career. His most well-known w ...

was commissioned to rebuild the palace.

Gallery

File:Budapest, view to Buda Castle Hill and Buda Hills.jpg,

File:Budapest - Budai Váralagút (38481946321).jpg, File:Budai Várnegyed, Halászbástya nyugat felől. - panoramio.jpg,

Fisherman's Bastion The Halászbástya () or Fisherman's Bastion is one of the best known historical monuments in Budapest, located near the Buda Castle, in the Várkerület (Buda Castle District). Since 1987, it has been designated a World Heritage Sites, UNESCO Wor ...

File:MatthiaskircheBeiNacht Budapest.jpg,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castle Hill Neighbourhoods of Budapest Hills of Hungary