The exhibition presenting the history of the construction of the Basilica of Esztergom evokes the Latin inscription on the main façade of the building, according to which this church Hungary is the head, mother and teacher of all churches of Hungary.

The first ruler of the Hungarian kingdom, Saint Stephen, was crowned on Castle Hill at the end of the year 1000. He founded the Archdiocese of Esztergom, whose cathedral was consecrated around 1010. The patron saint of the archdiocese and church, Saint Adalbert (956-997) as bishop of Prague, himself visited Esztergom to help strengthen the new kingdom and archdiocese .

The sanctuary of the medieval cathedral faced east, so its entrance opened from the Danube façade. At its greatest extent, the length of the building was 72 meters. Its western gate, Porta speciosa, is known from stone fragments and an 18th-century depiction. After the stylistic periods of Romanica and Gothic, the Renaissance also appeared in Esztergom. The magnificent tomb chapel of Archbishop Tamás Bakócz, completed in 1507, still preserves the memory of the Italian-educated and educated archbishops. In 1543, the armies of the Turkish sultan occupied the castle. The archdiocese fled to Trnava, from where it returned to its ancient seat only long after the end of Ottoman rule (1683). The design of the new Basilica was already considered in the 18th century, but it was not until the 19th century that the time for its implementation really arrived. The works were carried out during the era of four archbishops, Sándor Rudnay, József Kopachy, János Scitovszky and János Simor, which were started by the first, continued by the second and completed by the fourth. On August 31, 1856, Archbishop Scitovszky consecrated the largest church in Hungary in the presence of the reigning Emperor Franz Joseph.

The most spectacular piece of the exhibition is the model in the middle, made by János Mathes in 1822 based on the grandiose plans of Pál Kühnel and János Packh. Apart from the church, the grand seminary, the northern and southern canons, not all buildings were realized. Thanks to the activities of architects József Hild and later József Lippert, the Basilica is still used by large numbers of believers from the area and further afield for worship purposes and is continuously visited by hundreds of thousands of interested tourists.

The exhibition presents the liturgical instruments used at the consecration and the memorabilia made at that time in separate display cases. In addition to the large model, two structural models have survived, made for the dome and the roof of the nave. Contemporary portraits of the archbishops and the remains of the destroyed fresco of the northern transept, were placed on the walls. On a touchscreen interface, the construction history can be traced with numerous illustrations and detailed descriptions.

 

Concept, introductory texts: Ildikó Kontsek

Visual design and space design: Tibor Kálmán Zalavári

Restorer: Márton Szakács (model, paintings), Andrea Perger (textile)

Digital content: Miklós Istvánffy

Digital design: Dezső Straub Jr.

Photo: Attila Mudrák

Installation construction: Dimavill Ltd, SzemZene Bt, MarshallDesign SD-ART Production Ltd, László Dimitrov, Szabolcs Legény, Mózes Maradi

Printed design: Printwizard Kft.

English, Latin, Slovak translation: Dr. Csaba Török, Endre Gergely, dr. Emese Sarkadi Nagy, Zoltán Willant

Place of preservation of the originals of the photographic reproductions included in the exhibition:

Esztergom Cathedral Library, Christian Museum, Primate and Chapter Archives, Simor Library