St. Stephen's Basilica

St. Stephen's Basilica is the largest church in Budapest and one of the two buildings in the city whose height — 96 metres — is constitutionally protected. The dome is best seen from the outside, from the wide square in front of the main entrance, but the interior is worth entering for the scale of the nave, the gilded apse mosaics, and the reliquary chapel holding the holy right hand.

The dome terrace is open to visitors and offers some of the best views over Pest, particularly towards the Parliament building. Climb the stairs or take the lift. The basilica also hosts regular organ concerts in the evening; the acoustics are excellent and the programme covers both sacred and secular repertoire. The square in front becomes a Christmas market in December.

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A story
Construction of St. Stephen's Basilica took over half a century — work began in 1851 and the dome collapsed in 1868, delaying completion until 1905. The building holds the mummified right hand of St. Stephen, Hungary's first Christian king, in a jewelled reliquary. The hand is paraded through the streets every August 20th, the national holiday marking Stephen's death.

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