Religious, Spiritual sights in Budapest
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A
Basilica of St Stephen
Budapest’s neoclassical cathedral was built over the course of half a century and completed in 1905. Much of the interruption had to do with the fiasco in 1868 when the dome collapsed during a storm, and the structure had to be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. The basilica is rather dark and gloomy inside, but take a trip to the top of the dome, which can be reached by lift and 146 steps and offers one of the best views in the city.
To the right as you enter the basilica is a small treasury of ecclesiastical objects. Behind the main altar and to the left is the basilica’s major draw card: the Holy Right Chapel. It contains the Holy Right (also known as the Hol…
reviewed
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B
Great Synagogue
The Great Synagogue is the largest Jewish house of worship in the world outside New York City and can seat 3000. Built in 1859 according to the designs of Frigyes Feszl, the synagogue contains both Romantic-style and Moorish architectural elements. It was renovated largely with private donations, including a cool US$5 million from fragrance and cosmetics baroness Estée Lauder, in the 1990s.On the synagogue’s north side, the Holocaust Memorial (opposite VII Wesselényi utca 6) stands over the mass graves of those murdered by the Nazis in 1944–45. On the leaves of the metal ‘tree of life’ are the family names of some of the hundreds of thousands of victims.
reviewed
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C
Matthias Church
Parts of Castle Hill’s landmark church date back some half a millennium, notably the carvings above the southern entrance. But basically the church (so named because King Matthias Corvinus married Beatrice here in 1474) is a neo-Gothic creation designed by the architect Frigyes Schulek in 1896. The church has a colourful tiled roof and a delicate spire (although a massive protracted US$20 million restoration keeps the landmark tower under wraps). The interior is remarkable for its stained-glass windows, frescoes and wall decorations by the Romantic painters Károly Lotz and Bertalan Székely. There are organ concerts in the church on certain evenings, continuing a tradition…
reviewed
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D
Inner Town Parish Church
On the eastern side of Március 15 tér, now uncomfortably close to the Elizabeth Bridge flyover, is where a Romanesque church was first built in the 12th century within a Roman fortress. You can still see a few bits of the fort, Contra Aquincum, in the small park to the north. The present church was rebuilt in the 14th and 18th centuries, and you can easily spot Gothic, Renaissance, baroque and even Turkish elements.
reviewed
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E
Cave Chapel
This chapel is on a small hill directly north of the landmark art nouveau Gellért Hotel (1918). The chapel was built into a cave in 1926 and was the seat of the Pauline order until 1951 when the priests were arrested and imprisoned by the communists and the cave was sealed off. It was reopened and reconsecrated in 1992. Behind the chapel there is a monastery, with neo-Gothic turrets that are visible from Liberty Bridge.
reviewed
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F
Medieval Jewish Prayer House
With parts dating from the late 14th century, this ancient house of worship contains documents and items linked to the Jewish community of Buda, as well as Gothic stone carvings and tombstones. But it’s tiny and of only limited interest even to the faithful.
reviewed
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G
Újlaki Synagogue
Tucked away in an apartment block is the Újlaki Synagogue, built in 1888 on the site of an older prayer house and the only functioning synagogue left on the Buda side.
reviewed
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H
Basilica of St Stephen
Budapest’s neoclassical cathedral was built over the course of half a century and completed in 1905. Much of the interruption had to do with the fiasco in 1868 when the dome collapsed during a storm, and the structure had to be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. The basilica is rather dark and gloomy inside, but take a trip to the top of the dome, which can be reached by lift and 146 steps and offers one of the best views in the city.
To the right as you enter the basilica is a small treasury of ecclesiastical objects. Behind the main altar and to the left is the basilica’s major draw card: the Holy Right Chapel. It contains the Holy Right (also known as the Hol…
reviewed
