Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Vác
The town of
VÁC
, 40km north of Budapest, has a worldlier past than its sleepy atmosphere
suggests, allowing you to enjoy its architectural heritage in relative peace. Its bishops tradi-
tionally showed a flair for self-promotion, like the cardinals of Esztergom, endowing monu-
mentsandcolleges.UnderTurkishoccupation(1544-1686),Vácassumedanorientalcharac-
ter, with seven mosques and a public
hammam
, while during the Reform Era it was linked to
Budapest by Hungary's first rail line (the second continued to Bratislava). In 1849 two battles
were fought at Vác, the first a victory for the town over the Austrian army, followed a few
months later by a defeat in July 1849 when the town was captured; the battles are commem-
orated by a bright green
obelisk
by the main road from Budapest, shortly before you enter the
town. More recently Vác became notorious for its prison, which has one of the toughest re-
gimes in the country and was used to incarcerate leftists under Admiral Horthy and “counter-
revolutionaries” under Communism.
Március 15 tér and St Michael's Church crypt
Crypt Szent Mihály Altemplom • Március 15 tér • April-Oct Thurs & Fri 10am-2pm, Sat & Sun 10am-6pm •
300Ft
One of the most eye-catching squares in the entire country,
Március15tér
is a perfect trian-
gular wedge framed by a handsome melange of sunny, pastel-coloured Baroque and Rococo
buildings. At the heart of the square are the excavated ruins of
St Michael's Church
, deve-
loped piecemeal since its thirteenth-century origins. What you see now - foundation walls,
sections of nave and parts of a crypt - dates mainly from the eighteenth century; the crypt
itself can be visited in summer.
