We start our Buda Castle District tour at the Palace, the ancient seat of royal power. It was rebuilt, extended, changed, burned down, and rebuilt again several times over, getting its current eclectic appearances only after World War II. The first to build on Castle Hill was King Béla IV. He erected a fortress on this spot around 1250 after a devastating invasion by Mongolian hordes. Renaissance King Matthias made it into the most famous court in Europe at the end of the 15th century. Then came the Turkish pashas who ruled the country from here for over 150 years, followed by a succession of Habsburg emperors. Your historian guide helps you discover these regimes and what their major monuments at the Castle tell us about Hungary’s fascinating, multinational past and present.