It is difficult to see in the photo below, but there are three weathervanes on the facade of the Matthias Church. Above the main door to the entrance there is a weathercock, and to the left are two banners. The rooster is a common weathervane above churches, ever since the 9th century Papal degree by Nicholas I stated that all churches display a rooster as a Christian symbol (acknowleging repentence for St. Peter's denial of Jesus three times before the cock crowed). The banner weathervanes were probably once painted with some sort of symbol or crest or royal standard.
The Matthias Church is inside the Buda Castle complex above the city of Budapest, Hungary. This church dates back to 1015. The official name is the Coronation Church of Our Lady, and it was founded by St. Stephen, the first king of Hungary. There is a statue to St. Stephen next to the church. The name of the church doesn't refer to St. Matthias, but to King Matthias Corvinus the Fair, who expanded the church in the 15th century to include the featured weathervanes and facade. It was restored again the 19th century.
The roof of the church is very colorful, and the peaks and towers all have finials, but only the two featured weathervanes on the front are true wind indicators.
One of the more interesting finials atop a Matthias Church tower is the raven with a ring in its mouth (see above). It is not a weathervane. King Matthias has a legend that a raven once stole his golden ring. The raven was found and the ring returned to the king, and that raven became the symbol of the Hunyadi family, as an emblem of royal destiny and divine rule. You can see this symbol in several other places in Budapest, including the Beggar's gate. King Matthias was known as the "Raven King".
Interior of the Matthias Church
For the truly curious:
The Buda Castle website: https://budacastlebudapest.com/matthias-church/
Matthias Church on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Church
Click here to see over 550 other weathervanes featured at Weathervane Wednesday: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday
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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Matthias Church on the Castle Hill in Budapest, Hungary for Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 5, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/08/matthias-church-on-castle-hill-in.html: accessed [access date]).
