Page 84 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Budapest

82  BUD APEST AREA B Y AREA

Street-by-Street: the Old Town

Buda’s old town has been a barometer of Hungary’s
changing fortunes. It developed, to the north of the Royal
Palace, from the 13th century. Under kings such as
Sigismund, it flourished, and wealthy German merchants set
up shops in Lords’ Street (Úri utca) to supply the court. The
area was later destroyed by the Turks and again by their
evictors, the Holy League army formed of European t Mihály Táncsics Street
Christians. It was rebuilt after World War II, but genuine During the Middle Ages, this street
relics can be hunted out in its cobbled streets and squares. was inhabited by Jews. A museum
at No. 26, on the site of an old
synagogue, displays finds such
as tombstones.

B É CSI
K APU
T É R

T Á
N
C
S
I
The State Archive of Historic C S
Documents, located in a Neo- F O R T U N A U T C A M
Romanesque building, houses
items that were transferred to U
Buda in 1785 from the former Ú R I U T C A T C
capital of Hungary, Bratislava. O R S Z Á G H Á Z U T C A A

Defensive walls

i Church of St Mary Magdalene
The reconstructed Baroque tower is all that a . Lords’ Street
remains of the 13th-century Church of St Once the homes of
Mary Magdalene, where Emperor Francis I aristocrats and mer-
was crowned King of Hungary in 1792. chants, the houses on
Úri utca have medi eval
Key foundations. Many have
Gothic details and
Suggested route peaceful courtyards.

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