Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE BATTLE OF ESZTERGOM
In 2010, Ezstergom was crippled by an extraordinary political stalemate when the Fidesz
mayor was roundly defeated by an independent candidate but would not admit defeat. He
finally vacated his office, but the Fidesz-controlled town council refused to cooperate with
the new mayor in any way. It then emerged that the town was massively in debt, but Fidesz
did not help the new mayor take any steps. Even the Prime Minister, who had spoken about
the symbolic importance of the town, has refused to admit Fidesz's mistakes, while the loc-
al people despaired at the crisis that by the end of 2011 had decimated local services and
left the centre of town looking very neglected. At the time of writing, the stalemate contin-
ued and the town remains a strangely forlorn place.
The basilica
Cathedral
• Daily 8am-6pm • Free •
Crypt
• Daily: March-Oct 9am-5pm, Nov-Feb 10am- 4pm • 200Ft •
Cu-
pola
• April-Oct daily 9.30am-5pm (closed in bad weather) • 700Ft •
Treasury
• Daily: March-Oct 9am-5pm,
Nov to mid-Jan 10am-4pm • 900Ft • 33 402 354,
bazilika-esztergom.hu
BuiltuponthesiteofthefirstcathedralinHungary,whereVajkwascrownedasKingStephen
by a papal envoy on Christmas Day 1000 AD, Esztergom's
basilica
is the largest in the coun-
try, measuring 118m in length and 40m in width, and capped by a dome 100m high. Repres-
enting a thousand years of faith and statehood, it was begun in 1822, and completed József
Hild in 1869, an occasion for which Liszt composed
Gran Mass
(Gran being the German
name for Esztergom).
Its nave is on a massive scale, clad in marble, gilding and mosaics, while the main altarpiece
was painted by the Venetian Michelangelo Grigoletti, based on Titian's
Assumption
in the
Frari Church in Venice. More architecturally impressive, though, is the lavish, red and white
marble
Bakócz Chapel
(below the relief of Christ on a donkey), whose Florentine altar was
salvaged from the original basilica that was destroyed by the Mongols. Off to the right is the
treasury
(
kincstár
), an overpowering collection of bejewelled crosiers, vestments and kitsch
papal souvenirs.
The spooky
crypt
(
krypta
), with its seventeen-metre-thick walls, bears the tomb of
Cardinal
Mindszenty
,
amongst other grand mausolea; another stairway from the nave leads up to the
cupola
, reached by three hundred steps and offering a superb view of Esztergom.
