St. Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest, Hungary

St Stephen’s Basilica of Budapest is one of the most beautiful and significant churches and touristic attractions of the country. This is partly due to its historical heritage, of being dedicated to the holy king St Stephen who was also the founder of the Hungarian state, and partly to the architectural and artistic value of the building itself. A campaign to raise funds for the construction of the church commenced in the 1810-es, however, construction works did not start until August 14, 1851, based on the drawings of József Hild, a leading citizen and architect of Pest, who also designed the cathedrals in Esztergom and Eger. József Hild supervised the works until his death as of March 6, 1867. The Council of the City of Pest appointed Miklós Ybl, an acknowledged master at the time and designer of numerous public buildings in the capital city including the Opera House, to continue to supervise the design and construction of this prominent building.

After his death, the interior of the building and the fine artistic and decorative works were completed by 1905 under the supervision of József Kauser. January 22, 1868 was an important date in the history of the Basilica. It was on this day that the cupola and the cupola drum constructed according to the designs of Hild collapsed due to defects in materials and craftmanship. The pillars holding the arches of the cupola were constructed with donated stones of assorted quality and solidity. The cupola drum was built on the inner rim of the arches underpinning it, resulting in a precariously balanced structure which distributed the load unevenly on the pillars. The imbalance of the structure in turn gave rise to the collapse, after which works paused for more than a year, when the removal of the debris and the demolition of the poorly constructed parts commenced and continued until 1871. Miklós Ybl prepared new designs for continuing the construction works or revised the previous ones in terms of the structure and the appearance alike. From 1875, the Hellenistic forms and Classicist style were replaced by Neo-Renaissance elements applied by Ybl, and works continued, even after his death of 1891, according to his sketches and ideas until the long-last dedication of the church in 1905.

At first, the building was supposed to be named after Saint Leopold, the patron saint of Austria, but was later changed to honor Saint Stephen I of Hungary, the first King of Hungary (c. 975–1038), whose mummified right hand is housed in a reliquary. In 1931, Pope Pius XI awarded it the title of basilica minor; and served as the main venue for the 34th International Eucharistic Congress in May 1938. Although the church suffered serious damage during World War II the cellar provided shelter for many refugees and a valuable collection of the Hungarian National Archives.

The basilica is rather dark and gloomy inside. To the right as you enter the basilica is a lift to the 2nd-floor treasury of ecclesiastical objects. Behind the main altar and to the left is the basilica’s main attraction: the holy right Chapel, containing what is also called the Holy Dexter – the mummified right hand of St Stephen and an object of great devotion. It was restored to Hungary by Habsburg empress Maria Theresa in 1771 after being discovered in a Bosnian monastery. The chapel was being extensively renovated at the time of research and was not due reopen before 2020.