To come face to face with the surviving relics of the Buda Castle District – the buildings and former possessions of the kings, queens, courtiers and wealthy commoners who once lived here – is an exhilarating experience for the archaeologists who discover them and indeed for anyone with a love of history. These finds set Buda Castle apart from all other medieval archaeological sites in Hungary.

What has remained for posterity from the glorious medieval capital? Its buildings were devastated by the Ottoman occupation and the wars of reconquest in the late 17th century, and building works in the modern age often did not respect the medieval walls, so that today, there is little to be seen of medieval Buda.

Despite the wealth of written and pictorial sources concerning the Buda Castle District, archaeological excavation here only got started after World War II. In the 70 years since then, there have been a steady series of excavations, and the findings have been published in books and journals and displayed in exhibitions. Over that period, four or five generations of archaeologists in the Budapest History Museum have worked their way progressively deeper into the history of Buda Castle.

This exhibition is a selection of archaeological discoveries of the last 10 years. A decade is a short time in Hungarian history, but it has been a crucial period for archaeology. In rescue excavations prior to construction works, large and small, and the works implemented under the National Hauszmann Plan, the archaeological staff of the Budapest History Museum have made many unexpected discoveries. The finds on display come from excavations around the former City Hall, the Carmelite complex (today Prime Ministry), the Castle Garden Bazaar, the Matthias Church, the Transylvanian Bastion (Táncsics Mihály Street) and several other sites.


Curators: György Terei and Ágoston Takács



The exhibition is on view from 17 April until 31 July 2019 
Due to technical issues, the exhibition closes one week earlier. It will be open until 24 July 2019.


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