A City on the Front Line

Subtitled Buda and Pest During the Ottoman Period, 1526-1686, this major exhibition at the BHM Castle Museum marks the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Mohács by investigating the consequences of the victory of the Sultan’s forces that day. A City on the Front Line shows that during the 160 years of Turkish occupation, the separate, facing cities of Buda and Pest sat at the fault line between two great empires, Habsburg and Ottoman, assuming the role of an important diplomatic centre and trading hub for goods from further east. The new rulers also brought with them exotic elements of their culture that remain in place today. With English-language documentation, this long-running exhibition shines a brighter light on a lesser-known but pivotal period of Hungarian history.