Matthias Church

Listen first. Up here on Castle Hill, the cobblestones carry the sound of footsteps in small, sharp echoes. Somewhere close, a bell may be marking the hour. Now lift your eyes to the roof. Thousands of glazed tiles shine in the light, in patterns of orange, green, brown and gold. They look almost like the skin of a dragon. This is Matthias Church, and it is one of the few buildings in Budapest that seems to change colour as the clouds move.

Its official name is the Church of the Assumption of the Buda Castle. Most people simply call it Matthias Church, after King Matthias Corvinus. He ruled Hungary in the second half of the fifteenth century and is still remembered as one of the country's great Renaissance kings. Matthias did not found this church. But he expanded it, and he married here twice. Hungarians tied his name to the building, and the name never left.

The story of a church on this hill begins much earlier, in the thirteenth century. Tradition links its foundation to the years after the Mongol invasion of 1241. That attack devastated Hungary. Afterwards, the kings moved their royal seat up to this defensible ridge above the Danube. A town grew around the castle, and this church became its parish heart. The building you see today is the result of many centuries of building, damage and rebuilding on that early site.

Look up at the main tower and search for a small black bird. That is a raven, often shown with a gold ring in its beak. It is the symbol of the Hunyadi family, the family of King Matthias. His Latin name, Corvinus, comes from the Latin word for raven. Here is a detail many visitors miss — the raven appears in several places around the church. It becomes a small game to find each one as you walk.

Now comes the chapter that surprises most people. In 1541, Ottoman forces took Buda, and they held the city for about a century and a half. During that time, this church became the main mosque of the town. The Christian furnishings were removed. The painted walls were covered with whitewash. For generations, Muslim prayers were spoken under these Gothic vaults. Buda was a frontier city of the Ottoman Empire, and this building served that new world.

In 1686, a Christian alliance besieged and recaptured Buda. Here we move from history to legend. Locals tell a story that during the siege, part of a wall collapsed. Behind it was a statue of the Virgin Mary, hidden there long before by the Christian townspeople. According to the tale, the statue appeared in front of Ottoman soldiers at prayer, and their spirit broke. It is a story, not a record. But it is told with real affection here.

After the siege, the church was repaired in the Baroque style, the ornate, theatrical style popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. For a long time, it looked quite different from today. Then, in the late nineteenth century, the architect Frigyes Schulek led a major restoration. He studied the medieval fragments he found in the walls. He wanted to bring back the Gothic character of the church, with pointed arches, slender lines and rich decoration. Much of what you see now is his vision.

Those roof tiles are part of that vision. They came from the Zsolnay factory in the city of Pécs, in southern Hungary. Zsolnay ceramics are famous for their glazes, which can resist frost and keep their shine for decades. Their colours and patterns on public buildings became a signature of Budapest around 1900. Stand back a little and notice how the diamond patterns climb the steep roof. On a grey day they glow softly. On a sunny day they flash.

This church has also seen royal ceremonies. In 1867, Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth were crowned King and Queen of Hungary here. This followed the Compromise of 1867, the agreement that created the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. For the ceremony, the composer Franz Liszt wrote his Hungarian Coronation Mass. It was performed in this church that day. The last Hungarian coronation also took place here, in 1916, for King Charles the Fourth, during the First World War.

When you go inside, give your eyes a moment to adjust. The interior is darker than the bright exterior, and then the colour arrives. Nearly every surface is painted. Columns, walls and vaults carry patterns in deep red, green, blue and gold. Hungarian painters, among them Bertalan Székely and Károly Lotz, worked on the decoration. The effect is less like a plain stone church and more like the inside of a jewellery box. Candlelight and stained glass deepen the colours further.

Look for a chapel with a royal tomb. It holds the remains of King Béla the Third and his wife, Anne of Antioch, who lived in the twelfth century. Their graves were found far from here, in the old royal city of Székesfehérvár. In the nineteenth century, their remains were brought to Budapest and placed in this church. It is a quiet corner. Many visitors walk past without realising that a medieval king lies beside them.

The church is also a working place of worship, not only a monument. Masses are held here, and the building often hosts concerts. The acoustics suit organ music and choirs well. If you hear music during your visit, stop for a while. Upstairs, a gallery and treasury display religious objects and royal history. The church also suffered damage during the Second World War, and restoration work continued for many years afterwards. Repair is a constant part of its life.

When you step back outside, notice the white towers and terraces right beside the church. That is Fishermen's Bastion, built at the turn of the twentieth century and also designed by Frigyes Schulek. It was made as a viewing terrace, not as a real fortress. In the square stands the Holy Trinity Column, a Baroque monument raised to give thanks after outbreaks of plague. Together, these three structures make this square feel like a stage set for the old city of Buda.

Before you leave, stand still for one more minute. Look again at the roof, and at the raven on the tower. Below you, the Danube runs past the Parliament building on the other bank. This church has been a royal parish, a mosque, a coronation hall and a concert space. It has been rebuilt many times. As you walk away across the cobblestones, look back once. The tiles will have changed colour again with the light.