Hungarians citizens moved to Castle Hill in the 13th century, seeking protection from the Mongolian invasion; the first royal castle was built around this time by Béla IV. Castle Hill really flourished in the 15th century, after the marriage of King Matthias Corvinus and Beatrix of Naples led to an influx of Italian artists and craftsmen and Buda became an influential European city. Its fortunes have been up and down since: the Turkish occupation and World War II both led to huge damage. Today it has been restored to its former glory, and is now recognised as a World Heritage Site. The hill itself is a kilometre-long limestone plateau that towers over the Danube, offering a breathtaking panorama of the river and the Pest side of the city on the opposite bank. Below it there is a 28 kilometre-long web of caves formed by man-made passageways and thermal springs like those that fuel the city’s famous baths. Castle Hill has two main parts: the Old Town and the Royal Palace. Spread about it are many over Budapest’s most important medieval monuments and museums, including Trinity Square, Matthias Church and Fishermen’s Bastion. The most picturesque ways to reach it are either by walking across Széchenyi Chain Bridge and taking the Sikló, a railway built in 1870 that ascends steeply from Clark Ádám tér to Szent György tér near the Royal Palace, or by walking up the Royal Steps leading northwest off Clark Ádám tér. Although people still live here, cars are banned from the area: taxis, buses and those who work or live there have permission to go up.

Found on Castle Hill, this historic church is over 700 years old. It is a place fit for kings: it has been the site of several coronations, including that of the last Habsburg King Charles IV in 1916. It earned its name by virtue of the fact that King Matthias Corvinus married Beatriz here in 1474, ushering in a time when Castle Hill was the jewel of Buda as it became an increasingly influential European city. Each part of the church dates back from a different era, and together they provide a cross-section of Budapest’s turbulent history. The eastern gate was built in the 13th century, when citizens moved to Castle Hill for protection from the Mongols. The central part of the church was built in the 14th century, and from then on it was the place to crown kings. During the Turkish occupation, it became the city’s main mosque; the walls were whitewashes and strewn with carpets. Later, in the 17th century, parts of it were restored in Baroque style. But it was not until the end of the 19th century when it fully reclaimed its former splendour. Following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise it was the scene of a historic event: the coronation of Franz Joseph and his wife Elizabeth, which established the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Till death do us part Inside, the church is decorated with frescoes by two renowned Hungarian painters, Bertalan Székely and Károly Lotz, who also designed the magnificent stained glass windows. But perhaps the most famous item is the exquisitely carved double sarcophagus of king Béla III and his wife Anne de Châtillon, with their loyal hounds at their feet. Although he lived before the church was built, in 1848 archaeologists found his remains in the city’s ruined cathedral and transported it here.

Fisherman’s Bastion is located just behind Matthias Church in the Castle District of Buda. A very, very long stairway, adorned with reliefs of coats-of-arms, links the bastion to the streets below — scale it if you dare. Built in a combination of neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque styles, with a twist of fantasy, the turrets and parapets look like something from a fairytale. In fact, the whole bastion looks rather like the Disney logo. The bastion was built as a viewing platform in 1905 by Frigyes Schulek, the same architect who helped restore Matthias Church to its former splendour after centuries of decay, and it offers one of the best views in Budapest — a city that is not lacking in magnificent panoramas. Perhaps only the views from Gellért Hill and Buda Castle can challenge it.  From the bastion there is a spectacular view of the Danube river and Pest on the other side. You can clearly see some of Budapest’s iconic landmarks, such as St Stephen’s Basilica and the Parliament, the two tallest buildings in Budapest, as well as the famous Chain Bridge. By night the buildings on the riverbank are floodlit, and the effect is tremendously dramatic. The great and the small The bastion’s seven dazzling milk-white turrets represent the seven chieftains of the Magyar tribes who brought their people into the Carpathian Basin in the 9th century and founded Hungary, but the monument owes its name to rather more modest men: the medieval guild of fishermen who were responsible for defending this stretch of wall during the Middle Ages.

Buda Castle is the historical castle and palace complex of Hungarian kings in Budapest. It was first built in the 13th century by King Béla IV to defend against the invading Mongol hordes, but the foundations of today’s castle were set in the 14th century with a Romanesque design built by King Lajos the Great. It has shape-shifted ever since - from Gothic to Renaissance, from Baroque to neo-Baroque - partly because it kept being battered: over the years, the castle has been besieged no less than thirty one times. It’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Culture concentrateBuda Castle is home to the Budapest History Museum and the National Széchényi Library, named after one of Count István Széchenyi, one of Hungary’s great polymaths from the 19th century. The National Gallery is found there too, displaying a comprehensive selection of Hungarian art, ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day, including a fine collection of Mihály Munkácsy’s works, who stands among Hungary’s most important painters. Fountain of loveMatthias Fountain, just west of the main dome, is probably Budapest’s most famous fountain. It shows a scene from the legend of King Matthias and the peasant Ilonka. It’s theatricality is reminiscent of the Trevi Fountain in Rome: a hunting party, led by Matthias, stand on boulders with water running down through the cracks. Matthias holds a crossbow, and a huge dead stag lie at his feet. To his left stands Ilonka; as the story goes, they fell in love with he was hunting incognito. When she found out who he was and assumed their love was impossible, she died of a broken heart.

Gellért Hill is 235m high, and towers over the Danube. It only started to be called Gellért Hill from the 15th century onwards, in honour of St Gerard, a bishop who was killed by pagans during their rebellion against Christianity in 1046. They put him in a barrel and rolled him off the top and straight into history. War and peace The citadel at the top was built by the ruling Habsburgs after the 1849 Hungarian uprising as it offered a perfect site for shelling either Buda or Pest if there was a future revolt. It was used for similar purposes by the Russians after the Second World War: Soviet tanks bombarded the city from Gellért Hill to put down the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. The Citadel has since been a prison and an anti-aircraft missile launchpad, but is now a tourist attraction. The Statue of Liberty celebrates Hungary’s more free and peaceful recent history. Standing atop Gellért Hill, this lovely monument can be seen from all parts of the city. Although erected during the Communist era, the statue became a symbol of the city and was spared during the purge of other Communist icons in the 90s.  Up and down Although it is quite a hike to the top, the view is worth it. Many consider it to be the finest panorama of Budapest and the Danube, but it can be quite crowded, so it is best to come on weekday afternoon if possible. Then on the way down you can give your feet a well-earned rest at the Gellért Baths, by Liberty Bridge.

Of all the baths in Budapest, the Gellért Baths are the most luxurious: they has been described as like taking a bath in a cathedral. Standing on the Buda side of the Danube, by Liberty Bridge and at the foot of Gellért Hill, it’s the perfect place to rest after a day on your feet — or you can simply slip from your bed into the bath, quite literally if you are staying at the Danubius Hotel Gellért. Built between 1912 and 1918 in Art Nouveau style, the whole complex has recently been refurbished. Within you will find a huge tiled arcade, with mosaic floors, stained glass and domed ceilings. Eight thermal pools hold water that ranges from 26 to 38 degrees celsius in temperature, but there’s much more besides: massage halls, beauty salons, cafés, a chiropody hall, and even a dentistry complex, oddly enough. If you’re feeling brave, roast in the sauna before hopping into the freezing plunge pool. Water of Life The thermal baths contain water taken from Gellért hill’s hot springs. It contains all sorts of things, such as calcium, magnesium, hydrocarbonate, alkalis and sulfate, and people swear by it as treatment for a whole range of conditions, from joint problems to circulatory disturbances, and from asthma to neuralgia. Venus and Mars From its inception to January 2013, the Gellért baths had traditionally been separated into pools for men and pools for women. Now they are all mixed, so you won’t have to split up to enjoy them.