Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

362 CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp390–93 and pp394–7

Székesfehérvár 8

60 km (37 miles) SW of Budapest.

• 105,000. £ from Buda pest.
  @ from Budapest. ª Piac tér.
  n Tourinform, Városház tér 1,
  (022) 537 261. ( Piac tér, daily.

Settled by the Magyar chieftan
Arpad in the 9th century,
Székesfehérvár was the first
permanent settlement on the
Székesferhérvár plain. Arpad’s
descendants, Prince Geza and
St Stephen, erected a castle
and a vast basilica respectively.
The walled city that grew
around them was the site of
Hungary’s Diet, or Parliament,
until the Turkish occupation
in 1543. Although much of the
city was destroyed in World
War II, the Old Town was
spared, and its cobbled streets
are packed with histor ically
and religiously signi fi-
cant buildings.
On the main square,
Városház tér, the
Baroque Bishop’s
Palace, designed by
Jakob Riedler, was
built in 1801 using
stone from the Royal
Basilica. Across the
square, behind the
18th-cen tury Town
Hall, is the 15th-
cen tury St Anne’s
Chapel, the only
part of the medieval
city to have survived the
Ottoman occupa tion. Behind
it is St Stephen’s Cathedral,
founded by Bela IV, where
parts of the original Hungarian
coronation cere mony once
took place. Renovated in
Baroque style, the entrance

Stunning 18th-century Town Hall
in Székesfehérvár

features statues of St Stephen,

Laszlo and Imre. The Carmelite

Monastery fea tures colourful,

dramatic fres coes by Viennese

artist Franz Anton

Maulbertsch, while the

18th-cen tury altar

fresco in the

Cistercian Church

was painted by local

artists. Opposite this

stands the Black Eagle

Pharmacy Museum,

adorned with hun-

dreds of old medi-

cine bottles and an

amazing fres coed

ceiling. The town’s

most visited site,

how ever, is the Bory

Castle, built by Jeno Bory

(1879-1959). Part Roman

forum, part Gothic castle, it

houses sculp tures and art-

works by Bory and his wife.

Pannonhalma

Abbey 9

Pannonhalmi Főapátság

100 km (62 miles) W of Budapest.

Tel (096) 570 191. £ @

Abbey & Arboretum # 22 Mar–

Apr & Oct: 9am–4pm Tue–Sun; May–

Sep: 9am–5pm daily; Nov–21 Mar:

10am–3pm Tue–Sun. Library

Tel (096) 570 142. & 8 7

^ Abbey 0 =

The story of Pannonhalma

Abbey is as old as Hungary

itself. A UNESCO World

Heritage Site since 1996, there

has been an abbey here since

1002, the same year St Stephen

brought Christianity to the

Entrance to

St Stephen’s Cathedral

Magyars. The original

abbey burnt down in 1137,

and was replaced with a

Romanesque construction that

itself was superseded by the

late-Romanesque basilica still

in existence today. The

Western Tower, added in

1832, is one of the abbey’s

most prominent features.

The basilica’s main portal

of receding arches is one of

the most important surviving

exam ples of a porta speciosa

extant in Hungary. Though

now hem med in by extensions

to the complex, it is an out-

standing example of its kind –

an ornamental portal held in

red marble with rich wood

carvings. Inside, the stained-

glass window, added in 1860,

depicts the popular Roman

Catholic saint, Martin of Tours,

who was born at Szombathely

in western Hungary.

The Neo-Classical Library

holds 330,000 volumes, includ-

ing the Tihany Manu script, the

earliest written Hungarian text.

On the far side of the basilica,

Our Lady’s Chapel has three

Baroque altars and a tiny

organ. All the abbey’s monks

are buried here. The abbey

also houses a treasury that

is home to a rich collection

of ecclesiastical art and

historical artifacts. The

abbey’s Benedictine grammar

school, founded in 1802, is

one of the finest in Hungary.

The abbey’s Arboretum, on

the eastern slope, is the site

of hundreds of rare tree and

shrub species that have

grown wild in its grounds.

Pannonhalma Abbey’s great library housing ancient manuscripts