Matthias Church

Lonely Planet review

Parts of Castle Hill's landmark church date back some 500 years, notably the carvings above the southern entrance. But basically the church (so named because King Matthias Corvinus married Beatrice here in 1474) is a neo-Gothic creation designed by the architect Frigyes Schulek in 1896.

The church has a colourful tiled roof and a delicate spire; the interior is remarkable for its stained-glass windows, frescoes and wall decorations by the Romantic painters Károly Lotz and Bertalan Székely. There are organ concerts in the church on certain evenings, continuing a tradition that began in 1867 when Franz Liszt's Hungarian Coronation Mass was first played here for the coronation of Franz Joseph and Elizabeth as king and queen of Hungary. A US$20 million restoration of the church undertaken by the government is expected to be complete in 2007.

Steps to the right of the main altar inside the church lead to the crypt. The Matthias Church Collection of Ecclesiastical Art (Mátyás-templom Egyházművészeti Gyűjteménye), which is included in the church admission fee and keeps the same hours, contains ornate monstrances, reliquaries, chalices and other church plate.