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The Zsolnay pyrogranite tiles of Matthias Church are as colourful and richly patterned as snakeskin. Inside is a melange of styles from the 13th to the 19th centuries. It is thought that a church was first built on this site in 1015, by King István. The Renaissance King Mátyás Corvinus was crowned here in 1458, aged 14 years, and married twice within its walls. When the Turks occupied the Castle District in 1541, the church was turned into a mosque and the walls painted with extracts from the Koran. The building suffered in the 1686 siege of Buda and was restored in the 19th century by Frigyes Schulek, who uncovered remains of medieval wall paintings, vaulting and statuary, adding a few of his own gargoyles for good luck. Beyond the altar is the entrance to the Church Museum, which gives access to the underground crypts, chapel, jewels and the skull of the wife of King Mátyáss brother. http://www.matyas-templom.hu/
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Eastern Europe
