St. Stephen's Basilica (Szent István Bazilika)
Saint Stephen’s Basilica (Szent István Bazilika) is the largest ecclesiastical building in Budapest and has been visited by former Pope John Paul II. It is named in honour of St. Stephen, the first King of Hungary (c 975–1038), whose mummified and incorruptible right hand is housed here. He was also the king who dedicated the nation to Christianity.
The dome in St Stephen's Basilica
St Stephen’s is the tallest building in Budapest at 96 metres, along with the Hungarian Parlament building. It was only completed in 1905 after 54 years of construction mostly due to the collapse of the dome in 1868 which required the complete demolition of the remaining structure and rebuilding from scratch.
Built in the neoclassical style with a Greek cross floor plan. The facade is anchored by two large bell towers, the southern one housing Hungary’s largest bell which weighs over 9 tonnes. A trip to the top of the dome is highly recommended as it affords you a 360° view of Budapest from a great vantage point. You may access the dome by elevator or, if you are feeling energetic, by climbing 364 stairs.
For a quick look at St Stephen’s there is this cool virtual tour of the buildng available on the church’s official website. Just click here for the 3d virtual tour of St Stephen’s Basilica.
The interior of St Stephen's Basilica
The Basilica is open to tourists at these times:
Monday to Friday: 9.00 – 17.00, Saturday: 9.00 – 13.00 and Sunday: 13.00 – 17.00. Free entrance but you have to pay to see St Stephen’s hand or climb the tower. It is only a few hundred forints for each though and worthwhile going up to see Budapest from the dome.
You can also book guided tours in English, German, Italian, French and Polish. These have to be booked in advance by phone or email: Telephone/Fax: (00-36)-1-338-21-51 , (00-36)-30-703-65-99 or email: turizmus@basilica.hu. They will cost around 2,000 HUF (7 Euros) per person.
Address: 1051 Budapest, Szent István tér
Get there with Metro line 1, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út stop, Metro line 3, Arany János utca stop, Metro line 2 to Deák Ferenc Tér stop (which is a bit further to walk than the other two) and trolley buses 72 and 73.
Please comment below if you have questions about St Stephen’s Basilica or if you have visited the Basilica before.
Destination guide Dan.
Recent Comments