Budapest’s Castle Hill holds many mysteries. Among them, that of the underground hospital. Why is there a hospital underneath the royal palace? You have to go back to the 16th century to find the reason. At the time, the Ottoman occupation of Budapest forced the city’s citizens to hide. Grottoes were thus dug into Castle Hill. Four hundred years later during WWII, amidst the Siege of Budapest which saw opposing Soviet and German forces, it was decided that one of these grottoes should be transformed into a hospital for soldiers. No longer in operation since 1960, the hospital can be visited. Without a doctor’s note. Lovas út 4, 1012 Budapest
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