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1255
King Béla IV rebuilt it after the Mongols, between 1255 and 1269
According to church tradition, Saint Stephen founded the first church on the site in 1015, but there is no clear evidence. The Mongols destroyed an earlier building in 1241. After the invasion, King Béla IV replaced the older, smaller church between 1255 and 1269 with a towering three-nave basilica.
King Matthias
It took its name from the king who rebuilt its tower in 1470
The church reached its peak under King Matthias Corvinus, who built the southwest bell tower, one of the finest pieces of Gothic architecture in Hungary. The tower was rebuilt in 1470 after it collapsed in 1384. Since the 19th century the church has carried his name.
1541
For nearly a century and a half it was a mosque
In 1541 the Ottomans turned the church into a mosque, and Sultan Suleiman gave thanks there for the victory. The altars were thrown out and the painted walls were plastered over. In 1686, during the siege of Buda, a wall collapsed under cannon fire and showed an old votive Madonna statue hidden behind it. The story goes that the garrison's morale broke and the city fell the same day.
Schulek
Frigyes Schulek rebuilt it between 1874 and 1896, and the result was disputed
Between 1874 and 1896 the architect Frigyes Schulek carried out a major rebuilding under Emperor Franz Joseph. He restored the church to its 13th-century plan and added motifs of his own, such as the diamond pattern roof tiles and gargoyles. He knew that the work would be highly controversial.
Coronations
The last two kings of Hungary were crowned inside
The last two kings of Hungary, Franz Joseph I and Charles IV, were crowned inside its walls. That is why the church is also known, more rarely, as the Coronation Church of Buda.
Day 1, morning
Next is Fisherman's Bastion.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Matthias Church, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.