18 June 2019, Tuesday
Then there were also some ruins here! The ruins were of a medieval Dominican convent and royal mansion. Hungary was devastatingly attacked by the Mongols in 1241, during which the royal family fled to Dalmatia. King Béla IV (1235-1270) and his wife, Queen consort Maria Laskarina took an oath in this distressed situation that if they had a daughter born, she would be dedicated to be a nun as an atonement for the survival of the country. On 27 January 1242, Princess Margaret of the House of Árpád was born in Klis Fortress and was first sent by her parents to the convent of St Catherine in Vesprem at the age of 4.
Shortly thereafter, however, the royal couple found a new convent for their daughter on Rabbit Island near the royal seat in Buda that was being built at the time. In 1252 Margaret, together with 18 of her companions from Vesprem moved into the new convent dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In 1259 Pope Alexander IV entrusted the Dominicans with the operation of the convent and gave permission to build a smaller friary for monks responsible for the spiritual needs of nuns on the island. After the death of Margaret (1271) who was respected as a very dedicated religious person in her life already, her grave was visited by pilgrims and religious persons seeking healing for their souls and bodies. According to her wish, Margaret was buried inside the choir of the church. I saw her grave which had been excavated.
The convent and its church, during their entire existence, were supported by the royal family as well as the aristocracy, as a result of which they were maintained, developed and enriched during their almost 300 years of existence. In 1529 the nuns fled from the Ottoman attacks, following which the buildings started to deteriorate. In 1686 the imperial allied armies, who came to liberate Buda, established a military hospital in the convent.
The first archaeological findings were discovered in the 18th century during excavations for the construction of flood protection for the island. Between 1959-1962, excavations related to monument research were carried out, and they resumed in 1995 on the initiative of the Municipality of the City of Budapest.
During these excavations, the ruins of the previously unknown royal mansion, which was likely to have been been built about the same time as the convent and served as accommodation for the visiting royal family, were found to the north of the church.
Still walking around on this island we passed by an art nouveauwater tower, numerous jogging tracks, thermal spas and swimming pools. It was such a green, lush and beautiful island, it would be an honour and bring joy to my heart if I could jog here every morning. But alas!
Anyway. After the island we headed back to town to see the attractions there. We started with the Matthias Church, a Roman Catholic church located in front of the Fisherman’s Bastion at the heart of Buda’s Castle district. According to church tradition, it was originally built in Romanesque style in 1015, although no archaeological remains exist. The current building was constructed in Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century and was extensively restored in the late 19th century. It was the second largest church of medieval Buda and the seventh largest church of the medieval Hungarian Kingdom.
Matthias Church was named after King Matthias in the 19th Century, who ordered the transformation of its original southern tower. It was the site for King Matthias's two weddings (the first to Catherine of Podebrady and, after her death, to Beatrice of Naples). During the century and a half of Turkish occupation, the vast majority of its ecclesiastical treasures were shipped to Pressburg (present day Bratislava) and following the capture of Buda in 1541 the church became the city's main mosque.
The church was the venue for the coronation of the last two Hungarian Habsburg kings, Franz Joseph in 1867 and Charles IV in 1916. During World War II the church was badly damaged. Matthias Church was used as a camp by the Germans and Soviets in 1944–45 during the Soviet occupation of Hungary. The church was largely renovated between 1950 and 1970 with funding from the Hungarian government. The bell tower was restored, along with renovation of interior paints and frescoes.
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