Mathias church Budapest

Getty Images/Moment RF

Matthias Church

Castle District


Parts of Matthias Church date back 500 years, notably the carvings above the southern entrance, but essentially the church (named after King Matthias Corvinus who married Queen Beatrix here in 1474) is a neo-Gothic confection designed by the architect Frigyes Schulek in 1896.

Steps in the northwest corner of the church lead up to the Royal Oratory and the Matthias Church Collection of Ecclesiastical Art (Mátyás-templom Egyházművészeti Gyűteménye), included in the church admission fee, which contains ornate monstrances, reliquaries and chalices, plus replicas of the Crown of St Stephen and other items of the coronation regalia including the coronation throne. Ascending the 200-odd steps of the steeple will bring you to the top of the Panoramic Tower (Torony Panoráma, adult/concession 1500/1000Ft) with stunning views of the city.

Organ concerts take place in the church on certain evenings (usually Friday and Sunday at 7pm or 7.30pm), continuing a tradition dating from 1867 when Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Coronation Mass was first played here for the coronation of Franz Joseph and Elizabeth, the beloved queen affectionately known as 'Sissi'. The current 7000-pipe organ was built in 1909.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Castle District attractions

1. Fishermen’s Bastion

0.03 MILES

The bastion, a neo-Gothic masquerade that looks medieval and offers some of the best views in Budapest, was built as a viewing platform in 1905 by Frigyes…

2. Golden Eagle Pharmacy Museum

0.09 MILES

Just north of Dísz tér, on the site of Budapest’s first pharmacy (1681), this small, entertaining museum contains a mock-up of an alchemist’s laboratory,…

3. Castle Hill

0.12 MILES

Castle Hill is a kilometre-long limestone plateau towering 170m above the Danube. It contains some of Budapest’s most important medieval monuments and…

4. Panoptikum

0.13 MILES

This 1200m-long cave system, located some 16m (and 45 steps) under the Castle District, contains a motley collection of displays in its joined-up…

5. Music History Museum

0.15 MILES

Housed in an 18th-century palace with a lovely courtyard, this wonderful little museum traces the development of music in Hungary from the 18th century to…

7. House of Houdini

0.19 MILES

Dedicated to the famous Hungarian-born magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, who was born Erik Weisz in Budapest's district VII in 1874, this small…

8. Former Capuchin Church

0.2 MILES

Used as a mosque during the Turkish occupation, this church recycled Islamic-style, ogee-arched doors and windows on the southern side when it was rebuilt…