During the social program we will take you to the Buda Caste, which is the historical core of Budapest, the point, where the city was born in the 13th century. The castle is an incredibly interesting mixture of centuries from the 13th until current days. The coexisting of many kinds of architectural styles makes it a really imposing, interesting and beautiful spot of the city. During our walk through the charming narrow medieval streets surrounded by elegant baroque houses of the 17-18th century, we will have an overview of the Hungarian history and culture, glance at the oldest gothic churches of the city, like the 700-year-old Matthias Church which is the jewel of the Hungarian capital. We will also get to know what does the famous and characteristic building of the Fishermen’s Bastion has to do actually with fishermen.

The short walking tour will be followed by a visit in the Labyrinth of Buda Castle.

The Labyrinth of Buda Castle is the longest and most well-ordered visitable part of the cave system under the Castle Hill in Budapest. At the present time it belongs to the top 10 sights in Hungary. Moreover, according to a touristic website, the Labyrinth is one of the world’s 7 underground wonders. It is mysterious, unfathomable, and apart from the spirit it affects the five senses.

The Labyrinth of Buda Castle is situated in the complex of caves and cellars underneath Buda Castle District. The unique calcareous tufa caves of Castle Hill were created as an effect of the hot water springs at the dawn of the history of the Earth. These caves then served as refuge as well as hunting ground for the prehistoric man (the “Hunter of Buda”) appearing half a million years ago. Later the small caves were connected to each other and also to the cellarage of the houses of the Castle District for economic and military purposes, and the complex thus developed into a veritable labyrinth. In the 1930s, as part of the war-time defence program, the complex of cellars was converted into a shelter large enough to accommodate as many as ten thousand people at a time. Reinforced - and also disfigured - with concrete, it served as a secret military installation during the Cold War.

During the reconstruction work which took place in 1996/97, the labyrinth - extending to over 4000 square meters - regained its pre-war look as far as it was possible, with the word “labyrinth” determining its cultural and spiritual profile. In the present context “labyrinth” is a web of paths leading to our world, our history, or ourselves, which, given sufficient resolve, can be charted here. Looking back from the middle or from the end, the area you have covered will appear as an ordered, meaningful fabric of individual lives and historical destinies rather than a bewildering maze.