Esztergom Attractions, Hungary

Cathedral
The Cathedral (Foszékesegyház), of monumental proportions (118m (390ft) long and 48m (156ft wide) and with an imposing dome, dominates the skyline of Esztergom. Until the 18th C the Primate Church stood in the center of the densely built medieval town on the 156m (512ft) high Castle Hill; this church had been founded in 1010 by King Stephen I and was dedicated to Stephens's tutor, Bishop Adalbert of Prague. In the course of rebuilding in the 12th C the church was given the legendary door known as the Porta Speciosa, which has now been reconstructed from the original parts and is housed in the Castle Museum.
Badly damaged in the Turkish wars, the church was demolished in the 18th C. A modest Baroque church built on the site in 1767-74 soon proved to be insufficiently grand for the country's highest church dignitaries, and it was decided to build a more imposing new cathedral. The draft plans for this were drawn up by the architects Paul Kühnel and János Páckh, who envisaged a massive cathedral with a broad semi-circular space in front of it on which the archiepiscopal administrative buildings would stand. To fit in with this scheme the level of part of the castle hill had to be lowered by up to 11m (33ft). Work commenced in 1822, but János Páckh died in 1839. In his place came József Hild, a busily employed architect who two years before had made his name with his designs for the cathedral in Eger. The leading advocate of Classicism in Hungary, he worked mainly in Budapest, where he left his unmistakable stamp on the Pest district in particular. In 1856 Esztergom Cathedral was completed, although somewhat smaller than first envisaged and without the open space in front of it. During the celebrations at the dedication festival Franz Liszt conducted his "Esztergom Festival Mass" which had been specially composed for the occasion.

Hungarian Royal Palace
The remains of the oldest Hungarian Royal Palace (Királyi palota) are situated on the southern promontory of Castle Hill, to the left of the Cathedral. It was reputed to have been built under Grand Duke Géza in the 10th and 11th C, and towards the end of the 12th C. King Béla III ordered that a two-story west wing and a residential tower at the southern end should be added, and that it should be lavishly furnished. Later renovations were carried out in Renaissance style by the archbishops of Esztergom, who were the sole residents here after 1256. The Palace was sacked and filled with rubble during the Turkish siege; some of it was uncovered during excavations in the 1930s and 1960s, and the major rooms have now been opened up as museum.

Christian Museum
The Palace of the Primate of Hungary was completed in 1882. It is now the Christian Museum. This provincial museum has become known far and wide and - apart from those in the Budapest museums - its collections of works by old Hungarian and early Italian Renaissance artists are beyond compare. It came into being largely as a result of the collecting passion of Archbishop János Simor, who allowed the public in to see his paintings as early as 1875. His collection was complemented by the purchase of the Bertinelli Collection of early Italian sacred art and also that of medieval work owned by Alexander Schnütgen of the Cologne cathedral chapter, together with an inheritance from Bishop Arnold Ipolyi who had systematically tracked down and purchased Late Gothic panels by Hungarian masters which had become scattered abroad.
The highlight of the collection is the Picture Gallery, where the main paintings on view are by Italian masters of the 13th to 18th C, including Filippo Lippi, Duccio di Buoninsegna and Lorenzo di Credi. The main Hungarian Late Gothic work comprises the four tablets portraying Our Lord's Passion on a Lady altar (1506) with the monogram "M. S.". 15th to 18th C Austrian and German artists include Franz Anton Maulbertsch and Lucas Cranach the Elder. Outstanding among the Early Dutch works is "Man's Suffering" by Hans Memling.
In addition to the superb Picture Gallery the museum also boasts a high-quality sculpture collection with Hungarian and German work from the 14th-18th C. The most beautiful Hungarian wood-carving is the "Holy Sepulchre of Garamszentbenedek", a 15th C reliquary carried in processions. The exhibits in the Applied Arts department include gold and silver work, ceramics, tapestries and textiles.

Pilis Mountains
An excursion into the Pilis Mountains (Pilis-hegység), which lie between Esztergom and Budapest in the loop formed by the Danube Bend, is recommended. This chain of mountains, an official nature reserve, covers an area of some 23,000ha (90sq.mi.), with the coffin-shaped Pilis teto being its highest point (757m (2485ft). There is little in the way of lakes or other waterways, but there are large numbers of caves with fossils and other signs of life from the geological past. Mountain slopes covered mainly in forests of beech and oak mingle with steep and picturesque chalk cliffs. Because so many wild animals roamed the region and it was close to the royal residences at Esztergom, Visegrad and Buda, it was a favorite hunting-ground with the Hungarian kings, who built a number of hunting lodges (such as that at Pilisszentlászló). Today the beautiful Pilis Mountains, being so near to the town, are a popular spot with day-trippers. Favorite places from which to set out on walks include the villages on the narrow chain of hills between the Pilis Mountains and Visegrad Hills, especially Pilisszentkereszt, where the road leads up Dobogó-ko, which is 700m (2300ft) high and offers a superb view of the Danube Bend. The health resort which is also named Dobogó-ko is popular in both summer and winter (winter sports).

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