ST. STEPHEN'S BASILICA (SZENT ISTVÁN BAZILIKA)

St. Stephen’s Basilica is the largest church in Budapest and the second most important in Hungary. It was built byJozsef Hild, Miklós Ybland József Kauser in a neo-Renaissance-Classicist style. The embalmed right hand of Hungary's first Christian rulerKing Stephen the Saint's (István I) is kept here. St. Stephen's Basilica was built on a Greek cross plan. The interior space is divided into nine parts; the centre section is covered by the dome, the nave by a barrel-vault. Leo Fessler created the sculptures decorating the facade tympanum and the niches in the towers, and the sanctuary, as well as the exterior sculptural ornaments of the cupola.
The interior is also rich in artwork. It is decorated with mosaics, paintings, and sculptures created by the greatest Hungarian artists of that period, includingBertalan Székely, Gyula Benczúr, Alajos Stróbl, János Fadrusz, and Pál Pátzay. Alajos Stróbl created the Carrara marble sculpture on the high altar. A bust of King Stephen the Saint, Hungary's canonized first Christian King after whom the church was named, can be seen right above the main gate.
The most important relic of Christian Hungarian statehood, King Stephen's embalmed right hand, is kept in the Chapel of the "Holy Right Hand" (Szent Jobb-kápolna) located at the altar. Every year, on 20th of August, the relic is carried around in the central streets around the basilica in a magnificent procession. It is worth climbing (by lift) to the top of the Basilica's south tower to enjoy the extraordinary view. Weighing 9 tons, the bell of the Basilica is Hungary's largest.

Address: 1051 Budapest, District V, Szent István Tér
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 9-16, Sat 9-13, Sun 13-16
Telephone: (+36 1)317-2859
Guided tours are available on prior arrangement.

CAVE CHURCH (SZIKLAKÁPOLNA)

The Cave Church of Gellért Hill was founded in 1924 following a pilgrimage of Pauline monks to Lourdes. The chapel was consecrated on Whit Sunday in 1926, and Pauline monks performed their duties here for 17 years. At midnight on Easter Monday of 1951, the Hungarian secret police (IVH) broke into the chapel, arresting the entire order. The superior Ferenc Vezér was sentenced to death, the others sentenced to 5 to 10 years of imprisonment, and the chapel was blocked up with a 2.25 meter thick concrete wall. It was not until August 27th, 1989, that the chapel was reopened, although the demolition of the concrete wall was not finished until 1992. The revived Pauline Order now counts some 10 friars.

Address: XI. Szt. Gellért Rkp. 1.
Phone: (+36-1) 385 1529.
Open 9am - 8pm
Services 11am, 4:30pm, 8pm. Sun 8:30am, 11am, 5pm, 8pm (in Hungarian).
Tourist visits are not allowed during services.

SYNAGOGUE

The Great Synagogue in Dohány Street, also known as the Dohány Synagogue, or theTabac-Schul,(the Yiddish translation of dohány tobacco), after the Hungarian name of the street, is located in Belváros, the inner city of Pest, in the eastern part of Budapest. It was built between 1854 and 1859 by the Neolog Jewish community of Pest according to the plans of the Viennese architect, Ludwig Foerster. The synagogue is next door to a major street, which expresses the optimism and the newly elevated status of the Hungarian Jews in the mid 19th century. It is a monumental, magnificent synagogue, with a capacity of 2964 seats (1492 for men and 1472 for women) making it one of the largest in the world. The building has a length of more than 53 meters and is 26.5 meters wide. The design of the Dohány Street synagogue, while basically in a Moorish style, also features a mixture of Byzantine, Romantic, and Gothic elements. In 1991 a monument dedicated to the memory of the Hungarian Jews who perished in the Holocaust was installed in the rear courtyard of the synagogue, in a small park named after Raoul Wallenberg. The Holocaust memorial is created by Imre Varga and resembles a weeping willow whose leaves bear inscriptions with the names of the victims and bears the inscription:"Whose agony is greater than mine?"240 non-Jewish Hungarians "righteous among the nations", who saved Jews during the Holocaust, are inscribed on four large marble plaques. The memorial was made possible by the generous support of the Emanuel Foundation for Hungarian Culture located in New York, with funds raised from private donors. The National Jewish Museum (Országos Zsidó Vallási és Történeti Gyűjtemény) is located within the synagogue compound. Today the Great Synagogue in Dohány Street, for a long time one of the most renowned landmarks of Budapest, serves as the main synagogue of the local Jewish community as well as a major tourist attraction.

Address: VII. Dohány U. 2-8, Budapest
Telephone: (+36-1) 342-8949
Opening hours: Officially open Tues-Thurs 10am-5pm; Fri 10am-2pm; Sun 10am-2pm. Services are held Fri 6pm and Sat 9am
Public transport: Astoria (Red line) or Deák Tér (all lines)