Page 30 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Budapest

28  introducing bud apest

The Turkish Occupation

after the battle of Mohács, the turks razed buda, but they
temporarily turned their attention elsewhere and did not
return to occupy it until 1541. When they then moved into
the royal palace (see pp74–5), buda became the capital of
ottoman Hungary, while eastern Hungary and transylvania
were feudal suzerains. the ottomans soon converted the
city’s churches, including Mátyás church, into mosques Extent of the City
and also built numerous turkish baths (see pp52–5). the 1630 Today
Habsburgs tried relentlessly to recover buda during this
period. their sieges destroyed the city progressively and
when, in 1686, the christian armies eventually recovered The Rudas and
it the scene was one of devastation. Turkish fortress Rác Baths
on Gellért Hill

The Liberation of Buda in 1686
After a bloody siege, the Christian army,
led by Prince Charles of Lorraine, entered
Buda and liberated it from the Turks. This
painting by Gyula Benczúr, dating from 1896,
depicts the event.

Ottoman
Tombstones
A few inscribed
Ottoman tomb­ Pest and Buda in 1617
stones, topped by Georgius Hurnagel’s copperplate print shows
distinctive turbans, the heavily-fortified towns of Pest and Buda in
remain to this day in a period when much of Hungary was firmly
Tabán (see p98). under Turkish rule.

1526–41 Turks conquer 1541–66 Reign of Sultan Süleyman I, 1602–3 Austrians, led by
Buda on three occasions
“the Magnificent”, who considered General Herman Russworm,
1529 János I Szapolyai, the himself the Turkish king of Hungary fail in attempts to storm
Hungarian monarch, pays Pest and Buda
homage to Sultan Süleyman I
1525 1545 1565 1585 1605
1530–40 János I 1594 Bálint Balassi, Hungary’s first
Szapolyai great lyric poet, is killed taking
rebuilds Buda part in a battle against the Turks
at Esztergom (see p168)
1542 The Austrians
lay siege to Buda Austrian siege of Buda

028-029_EW_Budapest.indd 28 05/09/2014 15:40
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Starsight history template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.2)
Date 7th January 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm