Religious sites in Hungary
Matthias Church
Matthias Church is a Roman Catholic church located in front of the Fisherman"s Bastion at the heart of Buda"s Castle District. According to church tradition, it was originally built in Romanesque style in 1015, although no archaeological remains exist. The current building was constructed in the florid late Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century and was extensively restored in the late 19th century. ...St. Stephen's Basilica
St. Stephen"s Basilica is a Roman Catholic basilica named in honour of Stephen, the first King of Hungary (c. 975–1038), whose supposed right hand is housed in the reliquary. It was the sixth largest church building in Hungary before 1920. Today, it is the third largest church building in present-day Hungary. The basilica was completed in 1905 after 54 years of construction, according to the plans of Mikl&oacu ...Dohány Street Synagogue
The Dohány Street Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It seats 3,000 people and is a centre of Neolog Judaism. The synagogue was built between 1854 and 1859 in the Moorish Revival style, with the decoration based chiefly on Islamic models from North Africa and medieval Spain (the Alhambra). The synagogue's Viennese architect, Ludwig Förster, believed that no distinctively J ...Gellért Hill Cave
The Gellért Hill Cave is part of a network of caves within Gellért Hill. The cave is also referred to as 'Saint Ivan"s Cave', regarding a hermit who lived there and is believed to have used the natural thermal water of a muddy lake next to the cave to heal the sick. In the 19th century the cave was inhabited by a poor family who built a small adobe house in the great opening. The mouth of the ...Belváros Church
Belváros (Inner City) Church is the oldest building in Pest side of river in Budapest. It was built in 1046 as a grave of Bishop St. Gellért (c. 980-1046), a missionary from Italy who played an instrumental role in converting Hungary to Christianity. According to tradition, he was martyred by angry pagans who rolled him down a hill across the river, which was named Gellért Hill in his honor. The firs ...Esztergom Basilica
Esztergom Basilica is the biggest building in Hungary. The building of the present church took place on the foundation of several earlier churches. The first was built by Stephen I of Hungary between 1001–1010 (as the original Saint Adalbert church), the first cathedral in Hungary, which was burned down at the end of the 12th century. It was rebuilt, and even survived the Mongol invasion of Hungary. However, in 1304, We ...Mosque of Pasha Qasim
The Downtown Candlemas Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, formerly known as the Mosque of Pasha Qasim is a Roman Catholic church in Pécs. It was a mosque in the 16-17th century due to the Ottoman conquest. It is one of the symbols of the city, located in the downtown, on the Széchenyi square. The current building, hundred steps both its length and its width, was built by Pasha Qasim the Victorious between 15 ...Pécs Cathedral
Pécs Cathedral has been a prominent feature of this Hungarian cityscape for centuries. In 1064, after a fire destroyed a Romanesque basilica, the King of Hungary, Peter Orseolo, initiated construction of Pécs Cathedral where the old church had stood. Completed in the twelfth century, it features Romanesque stone carvings of exceptional artistic value. In the 16th century, Turkish conquerors converted it into ...Vác Cathedral
Vác cathedral, built 1761–1777, was modelled after St. Peter"s Basilica in Rome. The episcopal palace houses a museum for Roman and medieval artifacts.Tihany Abbey
The Tihany Abbey is a Benedictine monastery established at Tihany in the Kingdom of Hungary in 1055 by King Andrew I of Hungary. Its patrons are the Virgin Mary and Saint Aignan of Orleans. King Andrew was buried in the church of the monastery in 1060. His tomb in the crypt of the church is only grave of a medieval King of Hungary which has been preserved until now. The church's ceiling is decorated with frescoes by Káro ...Debrecen Great Church
The Reformed Great Church is the symbol of the Protestant Church in Hungary, and it is because of this church that Debrecen is sometimes referred to as 'the Calvinist Rome'. With a ground space of 1500 m² it is the largest Protestant church in Hungary. It also has the largest bell of all Hungarian Protestant churches. The Great Church was built between 1805 and 1824 in neoclassical style. A church already ...Pannonhalma Archabbey
The Benedictine Pannonhalma Archabbey is one of the oldest historical monuments in Hungary, founded in 996. Saint Martin of Tours is believed to have been born at the foot of this hill, hence its former name, Mount of Saint Martin, from which the monastery occasionally took the alternative name of Márton-hegyi Apátság. This is the second largest territorial abbey in the world, after the one in Monte C ...Jakováli Hasszán Mosque
The mosque of Jakováli Hasszán pasa, which is the most intact Turkish mosque in Hungary, dates from the 16th century. It houses an exhibition of Turkish historical and artistic objects, and at the same time it is a muslim place of worship.Zirc Abbey
The early history of the Zirc monastery is obscure as regards both names and dates, on account of its being so often referred to under both these titles: whether Zirc and Boccon were separate abbeys cannot now be definitely determined. It seems most probable that the foundation was made by Béla III, King of Hungary (1182), as the monastic domain was formerly a royal farm. Besides this grant, on which now stands the ...Malkocs Bej Mosque
The Mosque of Malkoch Bey was built in the 16th century (1543-1565) by the turkish leader Malkoch Bey during the Ottoman occupation. The reconstruction of the mosque is unrivalled in Hungarian building protection. The building won the Europa Nostra prize in 1993.Szombathely Cathedral
The Our Lady of the Visitation Cathedral in Szombathely was built in 1797-1814. A Baroque building in classical style was designed by Melchior Hefele. The Cathedral of the Visitation is located in the ancient forum of the Roman city of Savaria.Pécsvárad Abbey
The Pécsvárad Abbey was a Benedictine monastery established at Pécsvárad in the Kingdom of Hungary in the first decades of the 11th century. Its patrons were the Virgin Mary and Saint Benedict of Nursia. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pécs was established in 1009 with jurisdiction in the southern parts of Transdanubia within the Kingdom of Hungary. According to György Györffy, Pécsvárad was the center of a royal ...All Saints Church
All Saints Church is surrounded by a castle-wall-type barrier - by the wall of the former cemetery. The residents of the valley of the Tettye river built a one-navy church here as early as the 13th century. The originally Romanesque style All Saints Church was reconstructed in the 15th century in Gothic style. The exterior is simple, while a short tower stands on the triangular pediment of the main façade. The inte ...Szentgotthárd Abbey
Szentgotthárd Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery founded in 1183 by Hungarian King Béla III. Cistercian monks were settled there from Trois-Fontaines Abbey, France. The Cistercians started to build their new monastic centre in 1184. The building complex itself, with its 94 m by 44 m foundations, was unambitious, but capable of further extension. The monastery started to flourish soon. In the Szentgotth&a ...Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Holy Trinity Column
The Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc is a Baroque monument built in 1716–1754 in honour of God. The main purpose was a spectacular celebration of Catholic Church and faith, partly caused by feeling of gratitude for ending a plague, which struck Moravia between 1713 and 1715. The column was also understood to be an expression of local patriotism, since all artists and master craftsmen working on this monument were Olomouc citizens, and almost all depicted saints were connected with the city of Olomouc in some way. The column is the biggest Baroque sculptural group in the Czech Republic. In 2000 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.
The column is dominated by gilded copper sculptures of the Holy Trinity accompanied by the Archangel Gabriel on the top and the Assumption of the Virgin beneath it.
The base of the column, in three levels, is surrounded by 18 more stone sculptures of saints and 14 reliefs in elaborate cartouches. At the uppermost stage are saints connected with Jesus’ earth life – his mother’s parents St. Anne and St. Joachim, his foster-father St. Joseph, and St. John the Baptist, who was preparing his coming – who are accompanied by St. Lawrence and St. Jerome, saints to whom the chapel in the Olomouc town hall was dedicated. Three reliefs represent the Three theological virtues Faith, Hope, and Love.
Below them, the second stage is dedicated to Moravian saints St. Cyril and St. Methodius, who came to Great Moravia to spread Christianity in 863, St. Blaise, in whose name one of the main Olomouc churches is consecrated, and patrons of neighbouring Bohemia St. Adalbert of Prague and St. John of Nepomuk, whose following was very strong there as well.
In the lowest stage one can see the figures of an Austrian patron St. Maurice and a Bohemian patron St. Wenceslas, in whose names two important Olomouc churches were consecrated, another Austrian patron St. Florian, who was also viewed as a protector against various disasters, especially fire, St. John of Capistrano, who used to preach in Olomouc, St. Anthony of Padua, a member of the Franciscan Order, which owned an important monastery in Olomouc, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a patron of students. His sculpture showed that Olomouc was very proud of its university. Reliefs of all twelve apostles are placed among these sculptures.
The column also houses a small chapel inside with reliefs depicting Cain's offering from his crop, Abel's offering of firstlings of his flock, Noah's first burnt offering after the Flood, Abraham's offering of Isaac and of a lamb, and Jesus' death. The cities of Jerusalem and Olomouc can be seen in the background of the last mentioned relief.