Baba was a Turkish warrior-saint who acted as the army’s Imam during the conquest of Hungary in the 1541 campaign. Some of his poems – Guldeste = Bunch of Roses – and some of his mystical prose survive. The original mausoleum was built by the Ottoman commander Mehmed Pasha. Today, the renovated tomb, topped with a copper roof, is one of the few reminders of the 150 years of Turkish rule in Hungary. This was the true highwater mark for the Ottomans. At the peak of Turkish times, there were 61 mosques in Buda alone. Defeat in 1686 led to Hapsburg renewal and a gradual, bloody rollback of the Turks. In its time, the tomb was a local center for Islamic activity. Today, it sits quietly on a back street of Buda high above Margaret Island, visited by the odd tourist or two.
Phone: +36 (1) 326-0062, (1) 326-0928
Directions: Above in the streets above the Margarethe Bridges in Buda.
Website: http://www.islamfortoday.com/budapest.htm