In 1541, when the Turks captured Buda, The Church of Our Lady became a mosque. The ruling regime shipped precious ecclesiastical treasures off to Bratislava and, appallingly, whitewashed over the ornate frescoes that graced the walls of the church.The church was ravaged during the liberation of Budapest from the Turks in 1686. In the late nineteenth century, architect Frigyes Schulek is credited with largely restoring St. Matthias Church to its original splendor.