How to Spend a Day in Esztergom

From Budapest’s Nyugati Train Station it takes exactly one hour to reach Esztergom, a picturesque Danubian city by the Slovakian border known for its enormous Basilica and as the seat of the Catholic Church in Hungary.

The Ottoman occupation of 1543 brought an abrupt end to this flourishing Renaissance town. It wasn’t until 1820 that Cardinal Sándor Rudnay and his entourage returned to Esztergom after centuries in Nagyszombat and Pozsony, cities in northern Hungary – in today’s Slovakia – that were safe from the Ottoman advances.

An ambitious building program ensued in the 19th century and most of Esztergom’s great landmarks date to this period. Given the clerical patronage, Esztergom’s architecture and culture are far more impressive than for cities of comparable size. In recent years, several new cafes, restaurants, and hotels opened, making Esztergom an attractive day-trip destination.

Tour Esztergom’s Basilica (location; open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; free admission)

Sited dramatically on a cliff overlooking the Danube, Hungary’s biggest church is a monumental example of Neoclassical architecture. The building, whose construction lasted four decades (1822-1862), features a pedimented portico and a hemispherical dome supported by an elongated drum with wraparound columns – as with Bramante’s Tempietto and the Paris Pantheon. The inside is layered with beautiful art and enormous solids and voids. In addition to the Virgin, the church is dedicated to Saint Adalbert, the Bishop of Prague, a missionary to the Hungarians in the 10th century CE who is supposed to have baptized Hungary’s first King, Stephen.

The Esztergom Basilica is best-known for the Backócz Chapel, a stunning red-marble room commissioned in 1506-1511 by Cardinal Tamás Bakócz for the old church that stood here. Thanks to King Matthias Corvinus and the Italian artists who crowded his Buda castle, the Renaissance flourished in Hungary and the Bakócz Chapel shows notable parallels with Brunelleschi’s Old Sacristy in Florence’s San Lorenzo church. János Packh, the architect of the new Basilica, managed to salvage the chapel by disassembling and reinstalling the 1,600 pieces into its current location.

In the right transept is a statue of Saint Adalbert and a fresco showing the moment when he baptizes the young Stephen. The painting beside it depicts King Stephen, a few decades older, dedicating the crown of Hungary to the Virgin. The high altar is decorated with a giant copy of Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin (the original hangs in Venice’s Frari Church). A duo of archbishops stands under the dome, both carved from Carrara marble: Péter Pázmány, an important figure of the Counter Reformation, and the art-loving János Simor, the latter made by Hungary’s most well-known sculptor, Alajos Stróbl.

The church was inaugurated with a choral mass written and conducted by Franz Liszt in 1856 with Emperor Franz Joseph also in attendance.

Visit the Basilica’s Treasury and Panoramic Cafe (location; open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; HUF 1,500 admission)

Upstairs, the Basilica’s Treasury contains a renowned collection of ecclesiastic objects – breathtaking Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque style coronation chalices and vestments and other textiles of Hungary’s Cardinals such as Tamás Bakócz and Péter Pázmány. There’s a Burgundy-made gold Crucifix adorned with enamel figures and pearls to which King Matthias Corvinus added his coat of arms.

A panoramic cafe hides atop the Basilica – highly recommended.

Look at fantastic Old Masters paintings at the Christian Museum (location; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed on Monday; HUF 1,500 admission)

The Archbishop’s Palace in Esztergom contains an Old Masters collection regarded as the third greatest in Hungary (after those of the Szépművészeti and the National Gallery in Budapest). This is mainly thanks to Arnold Ipolyi and János Simor, high priests who were also passionate and competent art collectors. Gothic and early Renaissance paintings are most prevalent but one can run into Bernardino Luini, Giuseppe de Ribera, Luca Giordano, and Franz Anton Maulbertsch canvases, as well as wonderful tapestries, carpets, faiences. A museum employee is available for guided tours for a small fee.

Visit the Esztergom Castle and the coronation of St. Stephen statue (location; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed on Monday; HUF 3,000 admission)

Before Hungary’s kings moved their seat to Buda-Pest in 1241 (following the Mongolian Invasion), the royal family was based in the castle of Esztergom. In fact, Hungary’s first king, the canonized Stephen, was crowned in Esztergom, an event memorialized by Miklós Melocco’s oversized sculpture presiding over the hilltop.

After the kings moved out, the Archbishops moved into the old royal castle, adding their own Gothic and Renaissance details. Whatever survived the Ottoman ravages can be visited today as part of the Castle Museum. (When the Archbishops finally returned to Esztergom in the 19th century, they built a new residence for themselves down in the city.)

Visit the surprisingly amazing Hungarian Environment and Water Museum (location; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on Tuesday; HUF 2,000 admission)

Esztergom is situated right by the Danube so it’s fitting that the city is home to a museum dedicated to water: the life of rivers and lakes and all their blessings and curses to humans. Through helpful photos, objects, and snippets of information, visitors can learn about flooding, river regulation, irrigation techniques, the use of hydropower, the Danube’s wildlife, dams, dredging, residential water supply, climate change, and even the history of mineral and carbonated water.

Look at rare manuscripts at the Library of the Archdiocese (location; hours vary, usually open Tuesday to Thursday; HUF 1,500 admission)

Four of the library’s halls serve as an exhibition space for a best-of selection from the 200,000 volumes. There are ex libris show-offs, a parchment-bound collection purchased from the Fugger family, a “Corvina” gifted by King Matthias Corvinus, and a 60-kilogram ornate book of liturgical chant commissioned by Archbishop Tamás Bakócz in around 1500.

Wine and Dine

There are many options: Specialty coffee can be had at Babszem, traditional dishes at Csülök, excellent modern Hungarian food at Piac42 Bisztró, pastries at Cafe La Fonatana, craft beers at Beer Legal, low-priced drinks with locals at Sörakadémia.

Stay overnight in Esztergom (location; rooms from €90)

Esztergom can be a day-trip but there exist a few excellent hotels for an overnight stay. I had a very nice time at Villa Gran, a boutique hotel located on a quiet street in the city center, with Danube-facing rooms and minutes from the Basilica. Please note that my stay at Villa Gran was free of charge and that I only recommend tried and tested places.