High above the Danube, the Buda Castle complex is rising again. 

The palace, once home to Hungary's monarchy, was almost completely destroyed in 1944. Today, workers are piecing it back together, stone by stone.

"This building was bombed during World War II, just as most of everything else around us… these buildings were prime targets," said tour guide Darida Kop.

What remained of the palace sat in ruins for decades. Now, under the government's Hauszmann Program – named after the castle's original architect – the aim is to return the complex to its prewar form. Blueprints, photos, and period records guide the reconstruction.

"It brings back the long lost world of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which for Hungarians is a golden era," Kop said.

One of the project's centerpieces is the Cupola. Its copper dome will soon open to the public.

"It's going to serve both as a museum and as a viewing platform… it's a new vantage point that people are going to love," Kop said.

Art historian Peter Rostas has led the resurrection of Saint Stephen's Hall, a royal chamber once considered the jewel of the castle.

"Three historic rooms or state halls were established at the turn of the century," Rostas said. "The first one was dedicated to Matthias Corvinus. It was a neo-renaissance. 

"The second one was dedicated to the Habsburg House. It was a Baroque. And the third one was dedicated to St. Stephen, the founder of the Hungarian state."

The hall was destroyed in World War II. Almost nothing survived.

"Only a few fragments we had… one shell of the curtain, a piece of the wall tapestry, and one ceramic piece from the mantelpiece," Rostas said.

The restoration took two years of research and five more years of construction.

"First, I made a documentation with all the archival materials. Photos, blueprints, and invoices, the original invoices, the detailed lists of what was used for the room, and then we technically analyzed the fragments," Rostas said.

Now, visitors can walk into a space once thought lost.

"Historical authenticity is of utmost importance in our project," said Zsolt Sandor, assistant director of marketing at Várkapitányság, which oversees the site. 

"And that's why we are always having experts researching the past and also craftsmen. So we have a very good relationship with all the historians and other experts to help us with our work."

For Sandor, the mission is bigger than bricks.

"It's very challenging, to tell you the truth. But it's a great challenge. We love it all," he said. "I can tell you that everybody who works for this project loves his or her job, because we know that that will do something for the future of maybe our kids, for our grandchildren."

At Buda Castle, history is no longer distant. It is something to walk through, touch, and pass on.