Budapest Régiségei 37. (2003)

Végh András: A Magyar Tudományos Akadémia budavári épületegyüttesének története a város alapításától 1686-ig 209-235

VÉGH ANDRÁS THE HISTORY OF THE BUILDING COMPLEX OF THE HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES IN BUDA CASTLE FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UP TO 1686 It is an interesting but at the same time hard task to write on the mediaeval and Turkish-period topography of the building complex of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Buda Castle. It is interesting because the present buildings have been developed mainly from two Baroque covents (the Friary of the Franciscan and the nunnery of the Poor Clares) to government buildings due to their secularizing by Joseph II thad had no mediaeval precedents. The city quarter that lived here for 400 years on from the foundation of the city was demolished due to the negligance of the Turkish period., the devastating sieges and conscious demolition. It is hard to write at the same time because of the shortage of historical sources. It is well known that the mediaeval archives of the city of Buda were completely perished, our written sources can be collected from the archives of other cities or institutions. There is no authentic picture or map either from the period preceeding the reconquest of the city in 1686. And finally, there has not been archaeological investigation in this part of the Castle district that could subside for our written sources by bringing to light walls and cellars of former civilian houses. Lacking the excavations the author have tried to succeed in the object by making theoretical reconstructions. First the data of the earliest register of houses (1696) and survey of plots (1686) were attempted to indicate on a present-day map, and as a next step the original plots were tried to locate that can be dated back to the foundation of the city forming the basis of the mediaeval plot system. Then the author introduced the written sources referring to this area and he tried to trace back the history of possessors of the houses. The reconstructions will be challenged by will-be excavations and by written sources discovered in the future. 232