Szablyár Péter: Step by step - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)

The Queen of all Budapest stairs. the Fishermen' Bastion

■ UNESCO World Herltase iite - a birdó' eye view

The Queen of all Budapest stairs: the Fishermen's Bastion

"This bastion serves as a heavy Romanesque support for the light Gothic church above it. Theirs is in an easy, natural relationship. The muscular father is holding his gracious daughter in his protective arms,” wrote Géza Lengyel of architect Frigyes Schulek’s work. The Fishermen's Bastion is one of Budapest's most-photo- graphed tourist attractions. Situated in the axis of the panoramic view afforded by the Buda bank of the Danube — a UNESCO World Heritage site - the building catches the eye with its exciting shapes, serrulated turrets, stairs linking its tiers to one another, and the low-key and yet dignified sculptures, which all combine to create a harmonious foreground to the Church of Our Lady as the Matthias Church).

The section of the city wall that once stood in its place used to be of strategic significance in the life of the Watertown, or as it was also known, Fishermen’s Town, as well as that of the royal seat. It was here that the central square of the burghers' town could be entered and merchandise dispatched to the marketplace was brought in through the gate. The "communications bastion" of the Turkish occupiers stood in the place of today’s central tower for more than a century. Because of St Michael's Chapel (1443) and the nearby graveyard, the area became one of the most important locations here in the Middle Ages.

6