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The treasures of the churches
A great deal of our ecclesiastic relics is related to St. Stephen and to his son Prince Emeric. They were both laid to rest and canonised in the one-time coronation basilica. Following this Székesfehérvár became the destination for Hungarian pilgrimages with several miraculous healings recorded and others being set free spiritually.
More than 30 churches and chapels were built in Székesfehérvár in the middle ages but only one of them, St. Annes chapel, still exists meaning that this is the oldest intact building of the city. At the highest point of the city centre we find St. Stephen’s Cathedral with its huge steeples, the construction of which was started by Béla IV. In its undercroft of medieval origin we find the tombs of Béla III. and his wife Ann of Antioch. On the marble slab of the tombs kept in Mathias Church the imprint of the bodies of the royal couple can be seen. We meet the various forms and virtuous pieces of art from the era of late baroque in the churches of the city centre, in the Seminary Church and Cistercian Church. The Carmelite monks asked the best painter of Europe, Franz Anton Maulbertsch, an Austrian master to paint two altar pictures and frescos that continues to impress visitors even today. In the vestry of the Cistercian church with its two steeples we can find a suit of vestry furniture that is regarded to be the most beautiful in Europe. According to a relief framed on the wall of the St. Emeric church the palace of St. Stephen, the birth place of St. Emeric stood here which fell victim to the Ottoman devastation in 1601. In its place, in the founding stone of the church the relic of St. Emeric was laid. Amongst the valuable liturgical pieces of art and religious relics of the Székesfehérvár Diocese Museum the most distinguished is the head relic of St. Stephen in an ornamental silver relic case which was locked away from the public for centuries but is today exhibited for anyone to see.
The treasures of the churches – thematic excursion for sacral travellers and cultural “treasure-hunters”
Duration: 2 hours
Price of the programme in a foreign language: 18 000Ft/group
The treasures of churches extra package including the Székesfehérvár Diocese Museum and Bishop’s Palace
Duration: 3 hours
Price of the programme in a foreign language: 24 000Ft/group
Entrance fee to the Székesfehérvár Diocese Museum as part of the programme: 390 Ft/adult, 190 Ft/child
Guided tour of the Bishop’s Palace as part of the programme: 6 000 Ft/group