Hungarian Historic City

Székesfehérvár

Hungary, has many beautiful cities. In Transdanubia, one of the

atmospherical town, that keeps a lot of memories but after all modern town, that had been found more

than 1000 years ago, an old crown-city, Székesfehérvár.

Székesfehérvár

Székesfehérvár

Székesfehérvár

The name - reproduced literally in its German form of Stuhlweissenburg - means the „seat at the white castle”, a reference not only to the white stone of the building, but also to its function as a centre of royal power. White was

the distinguishing colour of the Hungarian kings. Székesfehérvár is one of the most historic sites of

Hungary, having been for centuries the coronation and burial place of kings. It enjoys the status of the oldest Magyar town at least if one accepts the tradition that

Árpád himself pitched his tent on the low mound on which the cathedral now stands, but which was then surrounded

by a hostile swampy wasteland. The marshes were drained in the 19th century. Székesfehérvár today is hard to

imagine as an impregnable fortress.

Prehistoric age

Long time ago the outskirts of the today’s town, was covered by far-reaching marshes. Because of this

well-maintainable fortress, marsh-castle could built in this area. People lived in the area of the

town too hundreds of years before.

Royal quarter

In this area was the first quarter of the conqueror leather Árpád and his royal tribe. The basis of Székesfehérvár was

puts by prince Géza in 972. Here settled the first centre and country of the public organization. We can see the sketch of the bizantic style church that was built in that

time.

The town of St. Stephan

St. Stephen king I. (997-1038): He was our first king. The first basilica was built by

Stephen, he found the chapter school. The throne,

the crown, the symbols of the royal power and treasury of the country and the archives were stood here, in the huge

and admirable basilica.

The town of St. Stephan

The golden age of Alba Regia

It got its new latin name (that known today too) in the Hungarian middle ages. Its meaning by the tradition of the

east nomad people is „free”, „ruling” town and people. What helped the development of the city was that the way

of pilgrims and the important commercial routes went through it. The weekly royal markets was kept place here

too. In the XII. century it was surrounded by wall.

The golden age of Alba Regia

That thirty-seven kings of Hungary (from Peter Orseolo, 1038, to Ferdinand von Habsburg, 1527) were crowned.

The golden age of Alba Regia

Seventeen of them were laid to rest in the burial chapels. The royal

sanctuary was ruined by invaders and a gun-power explosion.

Fragments of the buildings have been presented in the lapidarium, which consists of a sort of loggia built round the eastern edge of the

site. The most notable find is a Roman sarcophagus recarved by a

Venetian master in the Middle Ages. This was for long thought to

be the coffin of Saint Stephen himself.

The Turkish territory

In 1543 the city was occupied by the Thurkish, and for 145

years, till 1688 the conquerors governed. They

adjusted the beautiful buildings into jamies,

mosques, sacked the tombs of the royal basilica and blowed up the buildings.

The Baroque centuries

Székesfehérvár became city (free royal) again in 1703.

A bigger constructions started only in 1720. The baroque, rococo, and zopf style houses that you can

see today too in the downtown, were built in a 100 years between 1740-1840. The bishop’s palace was built in this time too.

The basilica of St. Peter

In the opposite direction from Szabadság tér in a more

peaceful part of the town, most of the other important sights are to be found, not

least among them the Baroque Cathedral of Saint

Peter and Saint Paul. Near the cathedral is the only building miraculously to survive from the Middle Ages, the little St Anne’s Chapel (1470). The

reason for the chapel’s survival is that the Turks turned it into a mosque.

St. Stephen Museum

Székesfehérvár is rather rich in museums the King Stephen Museum contains interesting

archaeological, local historical and ethnographical exhibits. Amongst these are remaining of the

important Roman town of Gorsium, which the Emperor Hadrian elevated to the rank of city.

Budenz József (1836-1892):

Our school is named after Budenz József. Budenz lived here, when he

was a teacher in Székesfehérvár. Also in Arany utca, at Number 12, is the so-called Budenz House, named

after famed researcher into the origins of the Finno-Ugrian group of languages. The house now contains a museum in the cellar, featuring the

history of the town.