Although Margit Boulevard now crosses through the Buda city centre, in the past, it often served as a suburban road, running along the edge of settlements, according to the findings of the completed excavation at the corner with Rómer Flóris Street. Four hundred graves were also identified, as the area was used as a graveyard in several eras, reports the archaeological portal of the Budapest History Museum, regeszet.aquincum.hu.

The Budapest History Museum began the dig on the corner of Margit Boulevard and Rómer Flóris Street (19–21 Margit Boulevard) at the end of summer last year. The earliest finds date back to the Bronze Age when the area was used as a cemetery, as evidenced by cremated remains. Presumably, there was a settlement nearby, but its location cannot be determined, the statement adds.

The excavation on Margit Boulevard has also deepened our understanding of today's Viziváros in the Roman Age. The plot was on the edge of the military camp that stood in the area in the 1st century AD, and local and imported artefacts were found from the period in a V-shaped ditch. A tomb was also excavated, into which a jug created at the end of the 1st century, beginning of the 2nd, and a marbled ornamental plate were placed alongside the deceased.

Finds from the excavation can be dated to several periods (Photo: regeszet.aquincum.hu)

A prosperous settlement developed around the military camp and later on its site. However, it was abandoned towards the middle of the 3rd century. Stone remains in the plot suggest a Roman stone building may have stood near Rómer Flóris Street. Fragments of a door frame were found.

The finds also include a decorative dish, an amphora, several coins, a bronze clothespin, a fitting and other utensils. The 2nd or 3rd-century brick kiln is a unique find.

A 15th-century roofed ditch was also found, which ran north to south and presumably served water drainage.

Use of the area changed after Buda fell under Ottoman rule. The vacated hillside was used as a graveyard. To the north, the large cemetery was bordered by the Gül Baba's tomb and on the south by the present-day Mechwart Square, which may have been the tomb of Veli Beg.

Read the full article in Hungarian here. 

Source: regeszet.aquincum.hu

Cover photo: A suburb and a cemetery once stood where Margit Boulevard now runs (Photo: regeszet.aquincum.hu)