About this walk
Five hundred years of Hungarian history stacked onto a single hill, where almost nothing still stands the way it was meant to.
The stops
Walk them in order; each story plays when you reach its pin.
- 1Stop 1
Clark Ádám tér, where the city was tied together
The square at the foot of the hill, where three cities once became one.
- 2Stop 2
The Royal Palace
Four palaces have stood here, and not one of them died of old age.
Read the story - 3Stop 3
The view across to Parliament
The building across the water was designed for a country twice the size.
Read the story - 4Stop 4
The Turul and the Habsburg Gate
A Hungarian origin myth, set in place by a dynasty from Vienna.
Read the story - 5Stop 5
The Sándor Palace and the Várszínház
In this yellow palace, a prime minister wrote his final letter.
Read the story - 6Stop 6
Szent György tér
The emptiest square in the quarter, and that emptiness is the trace the war left behind.
Read the story - 7Stop 7
The Úri utca and its sitting niches
Stone benches in the gateways, and nobody knows what they were for.
Read the story - 8Stop 8
The Sziklakórház
A hospital inside the rock that officially didn't exist for forty years.
Read the story - 9Stop 9
The tower of Mary Magdalene
The tower stands on its own, because the church around it was cleared away after the war.
Read the story - 10Stop 10
The Vienna Gate
This is where the wall broke in 1686, and where the man who defended it still lies.
Read the story - 11Stop 11
Táncsics Mihály utca
Beneath this street lies a synagogue that was found and then covered over again.
Read the story - 12Stop 12
The Mátyás Church
A mosque for a hundred and forty-five years, then the church where an emperor became a king.
Read the story - 13Stop 13
The Halászbástya
What looks like a fortress is actually a viewing terrace from around 1900.
Read the story - 14Stop 14
Ruszwurm and Trinity Square
A plague column, a confectionery from 1827, and the way back down.
Read the story
Ready when you are
Walk The Castle Hill with ROODS.
14 stops through Budapest. Open ROODS in your browser, walk to the first pin and the story plays.
- Stories on a map, with narrated audio
- Walk at your own pace, stop where you like
- Runs in your browser. An app is optional.
