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Palace Chapel (Buda Castle)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Medieval Palace Chapel

The medieval Palace Chapel (Hungarian: Várkápolna; formerly Alamizsnás Szent János-kápolna) in Buda Castle was built in the 15th century by King Sigismund as the lower chapel of the former Castle Church. The Gothic chapel, which survived the destruction of the 1686 siege, was buried under a Baroque terrace for centuries. After its reconstruction in 1963 became part of the exhibition of the Budapest History Museum.

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Budapest straddles the Danube River. On the west side is hilly Buda, dominated by Castle Hill. The royal palace marks the place where one of Europe’s mightiest castles once stood. Since the 14th century, Hungary has been ruled from this spot. As World War II drew to a close; Buda became the front line between the Nazis and the approaching Soviets, who sieged this hill for several months. Today’s palace — rebuilt from the rubble of WWII — may not be worth touring, but it sits on soil drenched in Hungarian history and is close to the soul of this nation. Another Castle Hill landmark — the 800-year old Matthias Church — has also been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Its flamboyant steeple and other frilly elements were added for the 1896 celebrations. The opulent and gilded interior tells a thousand years of local history — crusader heroics, beating back the Turks — all painted in a fanciful neo-Gothic way. The church’s prize possession hides in a chapel in the back. Peer through the black iron grill to see the 500-year-old statue of Mary and Jesus — which comes with a story. In the 16th century, the Turks were about to overrun Buda, locals — anticipating a terrible ransacking — hid their most precious statue in the niche and plastered it over. The Muslims took Buda and used this building as a mosque for over a century — they whitewashed everything…hung carpets on the walls. Then, during a later siege, a nearby explosion rattled the building. The plaster fell away from the statue and there was Mary looking out over the mosque. This spooked the Muslims. According to legend, the Turks fled making this the only part of town retaken without a fight. Just outside stands the Fishermen’s Bastion — an icon of Budapest. It offers sweeping views over the Danube to Pest. In the Middle Ages, the fish market was just below here — so this part of the rampart actually was guarded by fishermen. The current structure, though, is a fanciful rebuild — constructed for the big bash of 1896. Its seven towers symbolize the tents the nomadic Magyars — those original Hungarians — called home before they moved west to Europe. Hungary's first Christian king — St. Stephen — tamed the pagan Magyars. He established strict laws, introduced the concept of private property, and made his people- whether they liked it or not -Christian. The pope crowned St. Stephen in the year 1000 making Hungary part of Christendom. This was a pivotal point in Hungary’s history. While Steven could have accepted his crown from the leader of the Eastern or Byzantine Church, he chose to have his rule legitimized by accepting his crown from the leader of the Roman Church. And this gave Hungary more of a western orientation. The Buda Funicular is a popular landmark. Built in 1870 to provide cheap transportation to Castle Hill workers, today it’s a fun little tourist trip. It shuttles visitors every few minutes up and down between the top of Castle Hill and the mighty Chain Bridge. Guarded by lions which symbolize power, the Chain Bridge — the city’s first great bridge — offers a pedestrian-friendly way to connect Buda and Pest. Before this bridge was built, people needed boats or a good freeze to cross the river. Sometimes people would walk across the frozen Danube only to get stranded on the other side during a thaw. Once a city big shot was stuck on the other side for a week trying to get to his dad's funeral. He missed the funeral, he was so frustrated he commissioned the building of Budapest’s first permanent bridge. The Chain Bridge, finished in 1849, immediately became an important symbol of Budapest. While this and all other great bridges of Budapest were destroyed in World War II, they were quickly rebuilt.

History

The first chapel in Buda Castle was probably built in the 14th century during the reign of Louis I of Hungary. The chapel was mentioned in the Chronicle of Eberhard Windecke. Windecke claimed that Charles II of Hungary was attacked by his murderers in 1386 in a room from which the royal chapel could be seen: "konig Karle von Nopols erslagen zü Ofen in der vesten in der stuben, do man sicht in die capell." The chapel was also mentioned in the Chronicle of Lorenzo de Monacis, written around 1390.

King Sigismund thoroughly rebuilt the old Anjou palace during the first decades of the 15th century. He erected a splendid Gothic church in place of the former chapel. Its façade was facing towards the inner palace courtyard, and the long chancel was projecting from the eastern side of the palace. The chancel was built upon a lower church, a solution which was necessitated by the lack of space on the narrow plateau. It had a 21 m (69 ft)-long nave and an 11 m (36 ft)-long chancel. Two-storeyed royal chapels were not uncommon in medieval Europe. The flamboyant Royal Church of Buda Castle was similar to the more famous Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.

Buda Castle in the Middle Ages, from the Chronicles of Hartmann Schedel. The Palace Church, dedicated to St. John the Almoner, is indicated by the blue rectangle.

The archeological research proved the dating of the church, because 15th century strata were discovered under the intact brick floor of the lower church.[1]

In November 1489 Sultan Bayezid II sent the relics of John the Almoner to King Matthias Corvinus. The King placed the relics in the Royal Chapel which was re-dedicated and embellished with Renaissance furniture.

In 1526 Buda was plundered by the Ottoman Turks after the Battle of Mohács. The relics were rescued in time and carried to Pressburg where they are still kept today. A surviving church inventory from 1530 still shows the wealth of furnishings. Later King John Zápolya converted the lower church into a bastion. The large Gothic windows were walled up, only the new, rectangular loopholes were left open.

In 1541 the Ottoman Turks captured Buda without fight and the Royal Church ceased to be a place of Christian worship. The upper church was destroyed in the 1686 siege of Buda and the ruins were demolished in 1715. The vault of the lower church fell down and the interior was filled with rubbish. The remains were buried under the new Baroque terrace for two centuries.

The ruins of the lower church were discovered by archeologists in 1949-50. The remains were buried in 1953 because of conceptional disputes about the possible reconstruction. The chapel was finally reconstructed by 1963. It was re-consecrated in 1990.

See also

References

  1. ^ László Zolnay: A budai vár, Bp: 1981, p. 60
  • History section: Miklós Horler: Budapest műemlékei I, Bp: 1955, pp. 259–292
  • Post-war reconstruction: László Gerő: A helyreállított budai vár, Bp, 1980, pp. 182–187.

47°29′45″N 19°02′27″E / 47.49570°N 19.04076°E / 47.49570; 19.04076

This page was last edited on 17 October 2022, at 07:27
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