Esztergom Basilica

The Esztergom Basilica, the largest church in Hungary, is on Castle Hill, measuring 117m long and 47m wide. Its 72m-high central dome can be seen for many kilometres around. The building of the present neoclassical church was begun in 1822 on the site of a 12th-century one destroyed by the Turks. József Hild, who designed the cathedral at Eger, was involved in the final stages, and the basilica was consecrated in 1856 with a sung Mass composed by Franz Liszt.

The red-and-white marble Bakócz Chapel on the south side of the basilica is a splendid example of Italian Renaissance stone-carving and sculpture. It was commissioned by Archbishop Tamás Bakócz who, having failed in his bid for the papacy, launched a crusade that turned into the peasant uprising under György Dózsa in 1514. The chapel escaped most - though not all - of the Turks' axes; notice the smashed-in faces of Gabriel and other angels above the altar. It was dismantled into 1600 separate pieces and then reassembled in its present location in 1823. The copy of Titian's Assumption over the church's main altar is said to be the world's largest painting on a single canvas.

On the northwest side of the church is the entrance to the basilica's treasury (kincstár), an Aladdin's cave of vestments and religious plate in gold and silver and studded with jewels. It is the richest ecclesiastical collection in Hungary and contains Byzantine, Hungarian and Italian objects of sublime workmanship and great artistic merit.

The door to the left as you exit the basilica leads to the crypt (altemplom), a series of spooky vaults with tombs guarded by monoliths representing Mourning and Eternity. Among those at rest here are János Vitéz, Esztergom's enlightened Renaissance archbishop, and József Mindszenty, the conservative primate who opposed the former regime.

It's worth making the tortuous climb up to the cupola for the outstanding views over the city; the stairs leading up to it are to the left of the crypt entrance.