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The Varhegy (Castle Hill), often referred to simply as the Var , is Buda's most prominent feature, a long plateau laden with bastions, mansions and a huge palace, dominating the Vizivaros (Watertown) below. The hill's grandiosity and strategic utility have long gone hand in hand: Hungarian kings built their palaces here because it was easy to defend, a fact appreciated by the Turks, Habsburgs and other occupiers. Its buildings, a legacy of bygone Magyar glories, have been almost wholly reconstructed from the rubble of 1945, when the Wehrmacht and the Red Army battled over the hill while Buda's inhabitants cowered underground - the eighty-sixth time that it was ravaged and rebuilt over seven centuries, rivalling the devastation caused by the recapture of Buda from the Turks in 1686. Though the hill's appearance has changed much since building began in the thirteenth century, its main streets still follow their medieval courses, with Gothic arches and stone carvings in the courtyards and passages of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Baroque houses , whose facades are embellished with fancy ironwork grilles. Practically every building displays a Muemlek plaque giving details of its history (in Hungarian only), and a surprising number are still homes rather than embassies or boutiques - there are even a couple of schools and corner shops. At dusk, when most of the tourists have left, pensioners walk their dogs and toddlers play in the long shadows of Hungarian history. There are several approaches to Varhegy, mostly starting from the Vizivaros. The simplest and most novel is to ride up to the palace by Siklo , a renovated nineteenth-century funicular that runs from Clark Adam ter by the Lanchid (daily 7.30am-10pm, closed second & fourth Mon of the month; 400Ft uphill, 300Ft downhill; Budapest Card not valid). Alternatively you can start from Moszkva ter (on metro line 2) and either take the Varbusz - a minibus leaving from the raised side of Moszkva ter, that terminates by the palace - or walk uphill to the Vienna Gate at the northern end of the Var. Walking from Batthyany ter via the steep flights of steps ( lepcso ) off Fo utca involves more effort, but the dramatic stairway up to the Fishermen's Bastion is worth the sweat. The most direct approach from Pest is to ride bus #16 from Erzsebet ter across the Lanchid to Clark Adam ter - giving you the option of taking the Siklo or staying on the bus as far as Disz ter, which is almost as close to the palace. Restrictions on traffic in the Var mean that private cars entering the district collect a ticket as they enter and pay as they leave - 240Ft per hour, or free if you leave within thirty minutes. Taxis, local residents, and guests of the Hilton do not have to pay, but hotel guests must get their card stamped by the reception desk.
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