Come Go Abroad with Me: Danube Interlude

Esztergom was the first capital of Hungary, and the Esztergom Basilica is the largest church in Hungary. It is also the mother church of the archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest. Situated on Castle Hill, its 235-foot-high central dome can be seen for miles around. Visitors who like a challenge can climb 400 steps up to the cupola for outstanding views over the city of Esztergom, the Danube River, and Slovakia.

Our ship, the MS Beethoven, is docked in Esztergom, Hungary.

The Beethoven and the Maria Valeria Bridge

The bridge is named after Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, (1868–1924), daughter of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.

The Maria Valeria Bridge from the Slovakia side

During World War II, retreating Germans blew up the inner 3 spans of the bridge on December 26, 1944. The remaining outer spans on both Hungarian and Slovakian sides were standing alone for 56 years, so anyone who wanted to get to the other side had to go by boat or drive to Komarno, where there is a bridge connecting the two countries. The Maria Valeria bridge wasn’t rebuilt until 2001, with the help of the European Union.

The Maria Valeria Bridge from the Esztergom, Hungary, side.

The tram took us across the bridge between Slovakia and Esztergom, Hungary, to photograph the basilica.

Shipmates Helen and Monica on tram

Helen and Monica were a British mother and daughter who were our dinner mates and whom we were very lucky to get to know on our cruise.

The tram stopped across the Danube from the basilica.

Esztergom Basilica from Slovakia

The basilica underwent war and destruction during the Middle Ages and was almost completely destroyed by the Turks in the 1500s. The present neoclassical church was begun in 1822 and consecrated in 1856 with a Mass composed by famous Hungarian composer, Franz Liszt.

The tram made its way back across the bridge to the basilica.

The basilica as seen from the road

Market in the city of Esztergom

Columns seventy-two feet high hold the triangular tympanum stretching above the Esztergom Basilica. The bronze statue is “Our Lady of Hungary” standing on a sphere with a crescent moon by Gyorgy Kiss, 1905. The words say "Our Lady of Hungary! Stay with us! Our Mother!" The statue is 6 ½ feet high on a 12-foot pedestal. It was erected in 1905.

The inscription below the triangular tympanum reads:

CAPUT, MATER ET MAGISTRA ECCLESIARUM HUNGARIAE

(“The head, the mother and the teacher of the Hungarian church.” )

A flautist in Renaissance garb performs and bows in front of the basilica.

The dome has 12 windows and is 235 feet high inside, with a diameter of 110 feet.
It is 328 feet high from outside, counted from the crypt.

One of the main attractions of the basilica is the altarpiece, which is the largest painting in the world painted on a single piece of canvas. The master who created this work of art was Michelangelo Grigoletti, and the painting is modeled after “Assumption of the Virgin” by Titian (1516-1518.)

A closer look at the altar

The ceiling fresco is by Ludwig von Moralt.

Elaborate ceiling over the nave of the basilica

The side-altar painting to the left of the main altar is “Golgotha,” by Michelangelo Grigoletti.

The side-altar painting to the right of the main altar is of the coronation of Saint Stephen by Michangelo Grigoletti and Anton Mayer

Sculpture of three Hungarian martyrs, Saints Stephen, Melchior and Mark, by György Kiss, 1913.

Stephen Pongracz, Melchior Grodziecki, Jesuit priests, and Mark Krizevcanin, a diocesan priest, were martyred by Hungarian Calvinists in Kosice, Slovakia (then in Hungary.) Because they refused to repudiate their faith and become Calvinists, they were brutally murdered on September 7, 1619. They were canonized by the Catholic Church on July 2, 1995.

The reliquary below the altar holds a skull, which is believed to be the skull of one of the martyrs, Saint Mark.

The bronze high relief depicts Jesus preaching. The reliefs are surrounded by red marble on opposite sides of the basilica and located adjacent and at a similar height to the organ.

The bronze high relief depicts Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

The Bakócz Chapel is the most significant remaining example of Italian Renaissance stone-carving and sculpture in Hungary. Italian masters built the chapel from red marble for Tamás Bakócz, archbishop in 1506-07, to be his burial chapel. The chapel escaped most of the destruction by marauders and was carefully disassembled (into about 1,600 pieces), moved 65 feet away from its original location, and rebuilt inside the new basilica in 1823. The chapel is located in a kind of anteroom with its own dome to the left of the entrance to the basilica.

The renovation and enlargement of the organ started in the 1980s. It is the third largest organ in Europe and surpasses all organs in Hungary in both volume and variety of stops. Organ and choir concerts attract many visitors to the basilica.

Steps to the right of the main altar lead you to the Treasury, which houses many masterpieces of medieval goldsmith's works, including jewel-encrusted chalices, crowns, crucifixes, and monstrances (holders for the communion host.) The Treasury also has a vast collection of traditional Hungarian and European textiles, including chasubles, (outer priest’s vestments), other liturgical vestments and robes. They say, “All that glitters is not gold,” but they aren’t talking about the basilica Treasury. The collection is dazzling. Unfortunately, photos aren’t allowed in the Treasury--too much gleam and luster is blinding, anyway.

Descent to the crypt

The door to the right as you enter the basilica leads to the crypt. You go down 50 steps and pass tombs guarded by massive Greek-looking female figures representing Mourning and Eternity.

Mourning and Eternity

The huge crypt, built in Old Egyptian style in 1831, is today the resting place of late archbishops, among others, Jozsef Mindzenty, martyr of the 1956 revolution. He stood up to the Nazis and later the Soviets and was eventually killed for his beliefs.