Christian Museum

Just north of the Italianate Watertown Parish Church (Víziváros plébániatemplom; 1738), which is vaguely reminiscent of the glorious Minorite church in Eger, is the former Bishop's Palace. Today it houses the Christian Museum - the finest collection of medieval religious art in Hungary and one of the best museums in the country.

Established by Archbishop János Simor in 1875, it contains Hungarian Gothic triptychs and altarpieces; later works by German, Dutch and Italian masters; tapestries; and what is arguably the most beautiful object in the nation: the sublime Holy Sepulchre of Garamszentbenedek (1480), a sort of wheeled cart in the shape of a cathedral, with richly carved figures of the 12 Apostles and Roman soldiers guarding Christ's tomb. It was used at Easter Week processions and was painstakingly restored in the 1970s.

Be sure to see Tamás Kolozsvári's Calvary altar panel (1427), which was influenced by Italian art; the late Gothic Christ's Passion (1506) by 'Master M S'; the gruesome Martyrdom of the Three Apostles (1490) by the so-called Master of the Martyr Apostles; and the Temptation of St Anthony (1530) by Jan Wellens de Cock, with its drug-like visions of devils and temptresses. A free guided tour in English can be booked by ringing the museum in advance.