From the Magyars to the Ottomans

The Magyars — Hungary's founding people — came from the steppes of Central Asia. Around 896 AD, Prince Árpád led seven Magyar tribes through the Carpathians into the Danube Basin — the Conquest (Honfoglalás), the founding event of the Hungarian nation. The number 896 is omnipresent: The domes of the Parliament and Basilica are exactly 96 meters high, the Millennium Underground was opened in 1896.

The Kingdom of Hungary

In the year 1000, Prince István (Stephen) I. was crowned the first king — with a crown sent by the Pope, the Holy Crown of St. Stephen, which is still kept in the Parliament today. Stephen Christianized the Magyars, founded dioceses, and created a European kingdom that was a great power for over 500 years: Medieval Hungary stretched from the Adriatic to the Carpathians, encompassing present-day Croatia, Slovakia, parts of Romania, and Serbia.

The golden age: Under King Matthias Corvinus (1458–1490), Hungary became a Renaissance power. His court in Buda rivaled Florence, his library (Bibliotheca Corviniana) was the second largest in Europe. The Corvinus residence in the Buda Castle District, the Visegrád Castle on the Danube — this splendor is still palpable today.

Ottoman Rule (1541–1699)

The Battle of Mohács (1526) was the greatest catastrophe in Hungarian history: King Louis II fell, the Hungarian army was destroyed, and the country was divided into three parts — the west Habsburg, the center Ottoman, Transylvania semi-autonomous. 150 years of Ottoman rule left deep marks: Buda became the provincial capital, mosques and baths were built (the Rudas and Király thermal baths in Budapest!), and the population shrank dramatically. It was not until 1686 that Buda was recaptured by the Habsburgs.