Royal Palace

This is what the reborn Buda Castle will look like - From now on, anyone can see the plans The restoration of the Buda Castle has begun, and the visuals for its reconstruction have been published in the past few days, so now we know exactly what the building will look like after the reconstruction is completed. The Neo-Baroque royal palace was built between 1890 and 1905 with a significant expansion of the previous palace, but after 1945 it was rebuilt and simplified due to war damage. Anyone can see the reconstruction plans in the visitor centre that opened on Monday in Hunyadi Court.

Before the big changes - Budapest at the time of the compromise The Austro-Hungarian Compromise, established in 1867, ushered in one of Hungary's heyday. Under the Compromise of 155 years ago, a dual system was created - hence our common word dualism, which is used to characterise the period up to 1918. This upswing has brought about great changes: as a result of industrialisation, more and more people have moved to the cities, and the population of Budapest has grown exponentially. But what was the capital like in the second half of the 1860s?

A forgotten ramp - Another part of Buda Castle is being rebuilt Buda Castle was not only a beautiful architectural work inside and out until the middle of the 20th century, but also a venue for dazzling events, where guests arrived in carriages and later in elegant cars. After 1905, the main entrance opened from Szent György Square, in a newly built wing building with a ramp on the other side. This building, which bridges the level difference, will also be part of the future reconstruction of the palace.

Between the Riding Hall and the Royal Guard - The role of the Csikós Court and the Stöckl Stairs in the Castle The western side of the Buda Castle has been loud from truck noise in recent years, as the former Royal Riding Hall and the Royal Guard building have been rebuilt as part of the National Hauszmann Program. These beautiful buildings have been completed before, and more recently they have been working on the Csikós Court that surrounds them, which was finally opened to the public in mid-September. We invite the Reader for a short journey, during which we will pass through the court, and the end of our journey will be the also rebuilt, charming Stöckl Stairs.

Ideology fuelled destruction in Buda Castle after World War II The siege of Budapest was one of the most brutal battles of World War II, with the Castle District suffering the greatest damage. Only 1,400 of the approximately 6,500 flats standing in the vicinity of Castle Hill remained intact. And the devastation continued after the war: the communist dictatorship destroyed many buildings for ideological reasons, even though they could have been saved or rebuilt. Many iconic buildings, including several churches and the Castle Garden, fell victim to communist "restoration".

"The most lavish fireplace ever made in Hungary" Hardly anyone would doubt that the country’s most famous fireplace stood in the St. Stephen’s Hall of the Royal Palace. Vilmos Zsolnay lived to see the making of the sophisticatedly designed and executed masterpiece made of Zsolnay majolica, but he could no longer supervise its installation: he died not long before. Lucky posterity, however, may soon admire the work destroyed after World War II, as the former masterpieces were rebuilt under the National Hauszmann Program in the reborn St. Stephen's Hall. In this article, Pestbuda looks at the behind-the-scenes of the redesigning of the fireplace.