The Church of Our Lady of Buda Castle

Officially the Church of the Assumption of the Buda Castle, and known to everybody as Matthias Church.

A church has stood here since the thirteenth century. The name attached to it comes from Matthias Corvinus, who was married here twice and added the south tower with his raven crest on it. After 1541 the Ottomans converted it into Buda's principal mosque, whitewashing the frescoes and stripping the furnishings — which is, incidentally, why so little medieval decoration survived.

What you see now is largely the work of Frigyes Schulek, who restored it between 1874 and 1896 and did not restrain himself. He gave it the neo-Gothic spire, the interior's dense painted patterning, and the diamond-patterned roof of glazed Zsolnay tiles that makes it recognisable from across the river. Purists have argued with his choices ever since; the building is unmistakable because of them.

Two Habsburg coronations took place here: Franz Joseph in 1867, for which Liszt wrote his Coronation Mass, and Charles IV in 1916, the last coronation the monarchy held.

Entry is ticketed. It stands directly behind the Fisherman's Bastion, so the two are always visited together.