The Church of Our Lady in Buda and the Fishermen's Bastion [antikvár]

A History of Settlements The area enclosed by the towns of Esztergom, Óbuda and Székesfehérvár acquired special significance in the lOth century following the conquest by the Magyars of the territory identical more or less with presentday Hungary: it was chosen by the princely tribe fór its settlement. This outstanding position was maintained and even increased throughout history. These three salient points of the settlement area constituted the geographical and historical centres of the country from the very beginning. In the llth to 13th centuries Esztergom and Székesfehérvár came to the főre: the first king, St Stephen, was bőm at Esztergom and buried at Székesfehérvár; the Hungárián rulers were crowned in the Székesfehérvár cathedral throughout the Middle Ages, and this was alsó their burial piacé. However, Esztergom was made the first Capital of the country, where King Béla III could récéivé decorously Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Román Emperor, and his suit in 1189, and where below Castle Hill many beautiful churches stood amidst stone houses in the 13th century. In the first 30 years or so of that century Óbuda came to play a significant part beside Esztergom. The sons of Béla III, Imre and Andrew, did nőt follow their father's advice to keep ecclesiastical and secular centres together. They gradually ceded their Esztergom palace and the town to the head of the Church in Hungary: the archbishop of Esztergom, and to his chapter. Andrew II and his són Béla IV chose Óbuda fór their royal residencé, where they had their palace built in the 1220s and 1230s. Bút after the Mongol invasion devastating the greatest part of Eastem Europe in 1241, Béla IV drew a conclusion of what had occurred. He intended to build up his new Capital at a safe piacé that could be well defended. Thus he selected a hill, uninhabited, south of Óbuda. The royal residence was built upon the ridge of the hill running almost parallel to the Danube, with the palace at its southem cape. The town spread over the narrow rocky ridge, and both were surrounded by a wall. Thus Buda was bőm upon the New Hill of Pest, Novus mons Pestiensis as referred to in the earliest sources, and has remained the Capital of the country ever since. The primary historical requirement was fortification, and this applied alsó to the safety of the Church. In the fortified new settlement a parish church, named after Our Lady, was founded. Beside the palace of Buda this has since become the oldest, most important and precious building, nőt only in the city bút in the country as a whole. It claims special interest and appreciation fór its remarkable location, its artistic and historical development.