Churches and the Great Synagogue

The Great Synagogue

During our travels, we often will take a hop on, hop off bus tour.  Usually they provide a good overview of the City and show you the most important sights.  The on board commentary is hit or miss, but we mainly use it in order to easily get to the main sights for exploring.  In Budapest, the bus took us to the the Great Synagogue and the two main churches -- Matthias Church in Buda and St. Istvan's Basilica in Pest.

Matthias Church

The Great Synagogue is the second largest synagogue in the world.  Builtin 1859, It can accommodate over 4,000 people.  Unfortunately for us, Passover has begun and the Synagogue is closed for three days so we weren't able to see the inside.  Nevertheless, you can tell from the outside that it is quite large.

Matthias Church

Matthias Church has been destroyed and rebuilt several times in the 800 years since its founding.  The church we see today was redone in the late 19th century and restored after World War II.  The church is actually named the Church of Our Lady, but everyone calls it Matthias Church after the popular Renaissance King Matthias Corvinus who was twice married here.  The church sits high atop Castle Hill with great views of Pest and the Danube River.

St. Istvan's Basilica is Budapest's largest church, built in 1896 as part of the Millennium celebration.  It's named for St. Istvan (Stephen), Hungary's first Christian king.  The church's main claim to fame is that it has the "holy right hand" of St. Istvan.  The withered 1000 year old hand is kept in a jeweled reliquary in the chapel.

St. Istvan's Basilica

"Holy Right Hand" of St. Istvan