The Basilica of Esztergom is the largest church in Hungary and the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop — the Primate of Hungary. The current building was constructed between 1822 and 1869 on the site of the original medieval cathedral, destroyed during the Ottoman period. The interior is vast and cool, with a rotunda dome visible from kilometres away and one of the largest altarpieces in the world.
The basilica stands on Castle Hill above the Danube, with views across the river into Slovakia — the town of Štúrovo is directly opposite, connected by the Maria Valeria bridge rebuilt in 2001 after being destroyed in the Second World War. The treasury, in the crypt below the main church, holds one of the richest collections of medieval Hungarian goldsmith work in existence. The red marble chapel of Cardinal Bakócz (1506) is a masterpiece of Renaissance art, transplanted here stone by stone from an earlier building.