The Castle District - The Palace Area

Although the area's history goes all the way back to the second century A.D. when a predecessor of the current city was the capital of the Roman district of Pannonia Inferior, Budapest in it's current incarnation was formed only in 1873 when the cities of Buda and Pest united.  The Castle District sits atop a hill overlooking the Danube on the Buda side of the river.  Pocked by caves and housing thermal springs, this area has been continuously inhabited since ancient times.  The Castle District is contained by walls on all sides, although it is accessible by road in two places and by steep winding paths in enough places that after walking the area for a week, I was still often surprised where I emerged after a climb.  Considering the geography and contained nature of the District, it is packed with history,  architecture, statuary and museums.
 

The Triumphal Gate... (through which a stairway leads down to the statue pictured above.) 

The Mathias Well, surrounded by ornate statuary... 

The gate into the Southern Courtyard... 

A view of the Palace from the River.  This is the southern end of the Castle District; if you look closely (and/or the resolution on your monitor is good!) you can see bird statue from the photo above on top of the hill to the right of the palace.