Ark of the Covenant Column

The most striking object in Széchenyi Square is this tall Baroque column, topped by a gilded ark and flanked by elaborate bronze figures of angels. Erected in 1731, it stands at the centre of the city's main pedestrian square and gives the square its distinctive character.

The column is in the tradition of the plague columns found across Central European Baroque cities — erected as thanksgivings after the city survived disease or disaster. This one is particularly elaborate and well-preserved. The surrounding square is pleasant for sitting, with café terraces and the long facades of the old Jesuit church and former Carmelite monastery filling the sides.

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A story
The column was erected in 1731 to commemorate an apparition of the Virgin Mary witnessed by the Bishop of Győr in 1663 during a service at the cathedral — a vision reportedly seen by the entire congregation. When the city later survived a plague, the apparition was credited with divine protection, and the monument followed decades later.

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