royal palace of Visegrád

The Visegrád Royal Palace is a building complex erected between the 14th and 15th centuries in Visegrád, which initially served as the permanent seat of the contemporary rulers of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, then as their rural residence, until its destruction during the Turkish occupation. Today the building houses the Matthias King Museum of the Hungarian National Museum.

History

In 1323 King Charles I of Hungary moved his seat to Visegrád and had a royal house built in the town, which is first mentioned in the Illustrated Chronicle as the scene of the attempted assassination of the royal family by Záh Felicián in 1330. King Louis I expanded the royal house into a palace in several stages. The building that now stands in ruins was constructed in the last quarter of the 14th century, partly under Louis I and partly under King Sigismund. The regular‑plan palace measuring 123 m × 123 m had a garden to the north and, to the south, the Franciscan monastery founded by Sigismund in 1424 on the site of the older royal chapel. Between 1405 and 1408 Sigismund moved his seat from Visegrád to Buda, and the Visegrád palace thereafter became a rural residence. Between 1476 and 1484 King Matthias renovated the palace in the late Gothic style. Renaissance elements also appeared in parts of the building: the Hercules Fountain and the Muses Fountain, the loggia of the decorative courtyard, the chapel’s organ screen and altars. These are the earliest examples in Europe beyond the Alps of the Italian Renaissance style. After the Turkish conquest of 1544 the palace was abandoned and fell into ruin. Its ruins were demolished in the 18th century. Excavations began in 1934 and continue to the present day. During the monument restoration the former royal residential building and garden were reconstructed. Today the exhibitions of the Matthias King Museum are visible in the building, presenting the history of the royal palace and its reconstructed interiors.

Excavations (excerpt)

1993 – 1990: The early Renaissance garden of the Visegrád Royal Palace – Results of archaeological and environmental research. Specialists conducted interdisciplinary archaeological research in the garden between 1993 and 1999. Today we also know which plants were planted in the Middle Ages. Study by András Pálóczi Horváth. Source

Summer 2023: In the area of the former royal palace of Visegrád, a pair of gilded, silver-cast dress fasteners, about 700 years old, was found in the summer of 2023, in the curator's office of the Matthias Corvinus Museum in Visegrád on December 22, 2023. The finely worked, pierced decorative pair, only 3.5 centimeters wide, could once have adorned the dress of a noble lady. Such tiny and ornate fasteners were used in the Middle Ages to fasten the neckline of women's garments. Related Source