The Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Székesfehérvár held a great importance in the life of the Medieval Hungary. It was the place where Hungarian kings had to be crowned to acknowledge them "officially" as kings. It isn't a coincidence, the church was founded by Saint Stephen and this is the place where traditionally believed that he was buried (I read he might had been crowned here, but since the basilica was built after he was crowned, it would surprise me; the other place they put his coronation is Esztergom). From 53 (actually 52, Joseph II was never a king) kings, 37 were crowned here, and all from the House of Árpád (23). Furthermore it is believed 15 were buried here. Which isn't that much considering. That's not all, from the House of Árpád, only 5 of them followed Stephen there, in fact the next 7 kings after him did not, they all have different burial places. They had to have serious reasons for this - which I won't unearth now. The basilica is in ruins now - well basically only the foundations what we have, the very base of the walls. Storms of history destroyed it, but even in the 18th century an English traveler (certain Clements Simon?) noted the beauty of the remains, which means then it still had to had some structure. While the Turks turned it to mosque earlier, then the Habsburgs' Germans robbed the place (and the graves themselves) after that, the real destruction was done by us, and not simply by the people, but the direct controllers of the diocese, the various Hungarian archbishops, who used it up as a mine for building materials, especially when the palace of the archbishoprics was built. The "stone theft" went on up till the late 19th century, when they already did archaeological digging there. To be honest lots of historical place fell victim of this "recycling" activity.
08/20/2022 (Sat) 12:26
No.48513
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