Budapest, Hungary: Matthias Church

Its full name is the Church of the Assumption of the Buda Castle. Most people just call it the Matthias Church, as it stands on the hill that overlooks Budapest, the Danube and the rest of the city. 

A church first was on this spot about 1,000 years ago, but the present building's history begins in the 1300s. It received a major renovation late in the 1800s. A couple of Hungarian kings were crowded here.

The best story about the Matthias Church centers around the so-called "Marian Miracle." It seems that the city was under siege by Hungarian forces in 1686. During that time, the Ottoman occupiers of Buda were using it as a mosque. One of the walls collapsed under cannon fire. When the dust settled, an old Madonna statue was found behind it. Seeing the Virgin Mary appear shook up the Muslims, who suffered a major loss in morale. The city fell to the Hungarians later that day.