Matthias Church is the Gothic church with the patterned tile roof on Holy Trinity Square, in Buda's Castle District. Its official name is the Church of Our Lady, but everyone calls it after King Matthias Corvinus, who held both of his weddings here. For almost 150 years it was a mosque, and in 1867 Franz Joseph and Elisabeth were crowned King and Queen of Hungary inside.
Matthias Church at a glance
- Where: Szentháromság tér (Holy Trinity Square) on Castle Hill in Buda, right next to Fisherman's Bastion.
- Built: from the mid-13th century under King Béla IV; restored and largely rebuilt in neo-Gothic style in 1874–1896.
- By: the 19th-century restoration, including the tiled roof, is the work of the architect Frigyes Schulek.
- What it is today: a working Roman Catholic church that also hosts organ and classical concerts.
- Time needed: 30–45 minutes inside, plus a few minutes to walk round the outside.
From royal church to mosque and back
King Béla IV built the church as the parish church of the new town he founded on Castle Hill after the Mongol invasion of 1241–1242: a royal charter of 1255 describes it as unfinished, one of 1269 as newly built. King Matthias (reigned 1458–1490) had the south tower rebuilt, and his coat of arms, dated 1470 and found on that tower in the 19th century, gave the church its popular name. When the Ottomans took Buda in 1541, the altars and pews were removed and the church became a mosque. It stayed one until Christian armies recaptured Buda in 1686.
On 8 June 1867 Franz Joseph and Elisabeth were crowned here, to a coronation mass written by Franz Liszt for the occasion. A few years later Frigyes Schulek began his restoration of 1874–1896, which removed later additions and rebuilt the church in an idealised Gothic style, reusing medieval parts wherever they survived. The last Hungarian coronation, of Charles IV and Zita, took place here in 1916. The church was badly damaged in the siege of Budapest in 1944–1945; the interior was restored in 1954–1964 and the exterior by 1970.
What to look for
- The roof: diamond patterns of glazed tiles in orange, green, yellow and brown, made by the Zsolnay factory in Pécs. The smaller Béla Tower on the north side is decorated with coloured tiles too.
- The Matthias Tower: the tall south tower, rebuilt in King Matthias's time. Its upper part is a reconstruction, and the stone spire on top was added by Schulek.
- The Mary Portal on the south side: an early 15th-century Gothic doorway whose tympanum shows the death of the Virgin Mary.
- The painted interior: walls and pillars are covered in stencilled patterns and murals, many by the painters Bertalan Székely and Károly Lotz.
- The royal tomb: a side chapel holds the remains of King Béla III and his queen, Anne of Antioch, found in 1848 at the royal basilica of Székesfehérvár and later moved here.
- The Loreto Chapel under the south tower, with a late 17th-century statue of the Virgin Mary.
The Madonna behind the wall
A popular legend explains the Loreto statue. During the Ottoman occupation a medieval statue of the Virgin was walled up inside the church. During the siege of 1686, so the story goes, part of that wall gave way and the Madonna appeared in front of the Ottoman soldiers praying inside, who took it as a sign that the city was lost. It is a legend, but Buda really did fall to the Christian armies that year.
Tips for your visit
- Go inside, not just round the outside: the painted interior is the real reason to visit. Mornings are calmer; tour groups fill the square from late morning.
- It is a working church: services, weddings and concerts can close it to visitors, and shoulders and knees should be covered.
- For the best photo of the roof, climb to the upper level of Fisherman's Bastion, which looks straight across at the church.
Nearby
- Fisherman's Bastion: the white neo-Romanesque terraces right beside the church, also designed by Schulek, with wide views over the Danube to Parliament.
- Holy Trinity Column: the Baroque plague column in the middle of the square, put up in the early 18th century.
- Statue of St Stephen: the 1906 equestrian statue of Hungary's first king by Alajos Stróbl, between the church and the bastion.
- Buda Castle: the former royal palace at the southern end of Castle Hill, now home to the Hungarian National Gallery, a pleasant walk along the hill.
See Budapest with World City Trail
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If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Budapest.
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Facts checked in October 2026.