Miscellaneous photos - Esztergom, Mađarska

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GPS koordinate: Širina 47°47'32", Dužina 18°44'24" (N47 47.53 - E18 44.4) Karta

Moody pastry shop, farther the calvary chapel on Szent Tamás Hill

There is a Calvary that leads up to the Szent Tamás Hill. Here, instead of the traditional fourteen stations there are baroque reliefs and other sculptures from several ages along the road. By the way, the "Szenttamás" quarter of Esztergom and the Szent Tamás Hill (St. Thomas Hill) received their name after Saint Thomas of Canterbury, who was an English archbishop and also known as Thomas Becket (ca.1118-1170), and who learned together with the archbishop of Esztergom Lukács Bánfi in Paris, France in the 1150s.

Seated bronze statue of Archbishop János Vitéz (1465-1472) on the side of the Castle Hill

Created by Zoltán Szentirmai in 1988

In the early-14th century the area was plundered by Máté Csák, who ruled the counties of the "Felvidék" (it means "Uplands" or "Upper Hungary"), but in the meantime King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia also raided and occupied the Castle of Esztergom in 1304. Later in the age of King Charles I of Hungary (or Charles Robert, 1288-1342) the town started to boom, even already then there were major construction projects around the Castle Hill. The peak of the thriving and prospering of Esztergom arrived in the mid-15th century, at the era of János Vitéz cardinal archbishop of Esztergom. The renaissance humanist János Vitéz of Sredna was one of the educators of Matthias Hunyadi (the later King Matthias Corvinus) and his brother László (Ladislaus Hunyadi).

Unique Holy Trinity column in front of the City Hall (Vak Bottyán Palace)

Created by György Kiss in 1900

The sculpture that stands on the site of a former baroque Holy Trinity Column was created by György Kiss in 1900, it is carved of white limestone. Some elements of the original sculpture still can be found at various locations in the city. For example the column with leaf ornaments on the side of the St. Anne's Church, or the statue of Saint Rosalia on the downtown church.

Ister Fountain (in Hungarian "Ister-kút") with five women sculpture in the water

Created by Péter Párkányi-Raab in 2006

Ister is the ancient name of the lower section of the Danube, the river of Esztergom which crosses whole Hungary as well. Some scientists believe that the word "Ister" is derived from the Akkadian-Assyrian-Babylonian "Isthar" goddess, the counterpart to the Sumerian "Inanna" who was among others the goddess of the fertility and the wars.

Outlook from the rondella (round bastion) of the castle to Mária Valéria Bridge (a Bridge to Párkány) over River Danube

On the left it is Saint Ignatius of Loyola Roman Catholic parish church.

The bridge was named after Archduchess Marie Valerie, daughter of Franz Joseph I Emperor Austria and King of Hungary. The Mária Valéria Bridge was designed by János Feketeházy, who is also the architect of the Liberty Bridge ("Szabadság híd") in Budapest. For aesthetic reasons the spans between the piers are varying in size, moreover the distance between the middle piers (so the length of the middle span) is 118 meters, which was a record at the time of construction. In addition the structure of the bridge is quite light. The Maria Valeria Bridge was inaugurated and opened in 1895.

After World War II until 2001 the people called the bridge just "Csonkahíd" (literally "Truncated Bridge"), because in 1945 the German troops exploded it and the ruined state remained for more than half a century. Finally in 2001 it was restored by the initiative of the "Hídegylet" ("Bridge Society") and with the support of the European Union, therefore the road traffic between Esztergom, Hungary and Štúrovo (Párkány), Slovakia has increased fivefold and it gave impetus to the development of both settlements.

Calvary chapel on Szent Tamás Hill (Saint Thomas Becket of Canterbury Chapel or Pietà Chapel)

The neo-classical style Calvary Chapel of Szenttamás was built in 1823, designed by János Packh. The relics of Thomas Becket (St. Thomas of Canterbury) were carried to Esztergom in 1538, these were placed here in the chapel. The Golgota statues were brought here from the Castle Hill ("Várhegy") also in 1823, these were originally in the ruined former St. Adalbert Cathedral, on the place where the sanctuary was in the past. The statues were created around 1781, probably by József Hebenstreit.

Saint Anne parish church ("Round church")

The St. Anne's Parish Church or "Round Church" (in Hungarian "Kerektemplom") should not be confused with the downtown Franciscan church in the Bottyán János Street. The latter is also dedicated to Saint Anne, that St. Anne's Church is the burial place of King Béla IV of Hungary and his family. The Round Church was built in 1837, designed by János Packh, one of the masters who supervised the construction of the Esztergom Basilica. This church was built also to test the dome shape of the later basilica, it was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. There is a statue of Saint Wendelin from 1820 on the side of the circular Round Church, it was part of the old baroque Holy Trinity Column, which stood in the middle of the Széchenyi Square and was demolished in 1900.