Belváros Church, Budapest, Hungary

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 first church constructed on this spot was a 12th-century Romanesque structure built inside the ruined walls of the Roman fortress of Contra-Aquincum. In the early 14th century, after destroyed by Mongols, this church was replaced by a Gothic church which still stands today. It has been frequently renovated and remodeled in accordance with contemporary fashions, so its medieval origins are not obvious at first glance.

During the reign of Ottoman Empire Belváros was used as a mosque and in 1702 it was returned as a Christian church by Jesuits. The Rococo style pulpit dates from 1808.

User Reviews

Allain Jing Couple in Love world travels (14 months ago)
We really love this place, so clean, perfect weather, very nice view of the Parliament.

Dan Leal (2 years ago)
A very beautiful church thats orgins are almost 1,000 years old. They just recently finished the restoration of it and is truly a sight to see. It is open to the public 24 hours a day and truly worth checking out

J. D. (2 years ago)
Whose idea was it to make this historical monument look like a cheap non-stop?! Artgasm ruined.

Madhusudhan Konda (2 years ago)
The oldest building in Budapest, Inner City of Parish Church is a wonderful, awesome and beautiful church, standing mightily next to the Elisabeth Bridge. It’s an iconic building which carried through the generations, transforming into various architectural styles from Romanasque to Gothic to Baroque to Neo classical including becoming a Mosque during Turkish invasion. You will be captivated with an awe inspiring Altar, ecclesiastical garments, beautifully carved Pulpit, gorgeous interiors and the grand piano sounding majestically. Do take a minute to head down to vault area where you can find the grotto with blessed sacrament exposed and ancient ruins(you experience pin drop silence as people sit and prayer in silence). I never seen or heard any church open for 24 hours a day, to my surprise this church seems open 24 by 7!

ordog botond (2 years ago)
Beautiful little chatolic church. Beautiful altars and memorabilia to see. Also it's open 24/7. So definitely a go ti.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Frans.Sellies

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Kromeriz Castle and Gardens

Kroměříž stands on the site of an earlier ford across the River Morava. The gardens and castle of Kroměříž are an exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a European Baroque princely residence and its gardens and described as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The first residence on the site was founded by bishop Stanislas Thurzo in 1497. The building was in a Late Gothic style, with a modicum of Renaissance detail. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was sacked by the Swedish army (1643).

It was not until 1664 that a bishop from the powerful Liechtenstein family charged architect Filiberto Lucchese with renovating the palace in a Baroque style. The chief monument of Lucchese's work in Kroměříž is the Pleasure Garden in front of the castle. Upon Lucchese's death in 1666, Giovanni Pietro Tencalla completed his work on the formal garden and had the palace rebuilt in a style reminiscent of the Turinese school to which he belonged.

After the castle was gutted by a major fire in March 1752, Bishop Hamilton commissioned two leading imperial artists, Franz Anton Maulbertsch and Josef Stern, arrived at the residence in order to decorate the halls of the palace with their works. In addition to their paintings, the palace still houses an art collection, generally considered the second finest in the country, which includes Titian's last mythological painting, The Flaying of Marsyas. The largest part of the collection was acquired by Bishop Karel in Cologne in 1673. The palace also contains an outstanding musical archive and a library of 33,000 volumes.

UNESCO lists the palace and garden among the World Heritage Sites. As the nomination dossier explains, 'the castle is a good but not outstanding example of a type of aristocratic or princely residence that has survived widely in Europe. The Pleasure Garden, by contrast, is a very rare and largely intact example of a Baroque garden'. Apart from the formal parterres there is also a less formal nineteenth-century English garden, which sustained damage during floods in 1997.

Interiors of the palace were extensively used by Miloš Forman as a stand-in for Vienna's Hofburg Imperial Palace during filming of Amadeus (1984), based on the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who actually never visited Kroměříž. The main audience chamber was also used in the film Immortal Beloved (1994), in the piano concerto scene.

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