St. Stephen's Basilica, Back Inside to the Treasury

With a view of the right bell tower (again, as viewed looking toward the front of basilica from the street) and the Budapest Eye in the background, we leave the breezy walkway and head back inside the basilica to visit the treasury.

St. Stephen's Basilica, Inside and Out

And so we end the tour of the interior with a fitting look at the altar area. This is truly an extravagantly decorated place, clearly meant to impress. that it certainly does.

St. Stephen's Basilica

This place is quite large, but certainly not immense. Yet, the space, at times, overwhelms. The view above that is looking across the center aisle, leads you into a space that is truly grand on any sort of human sized endeavor.

St. Stephen's Basilica

This building, on the grand scale of bygone times, is actually quite recent. It was completed in 1905. Wikipedia tells us that in 1868, the dome collapsed and the whole thing had to demolished for a fresh start. So even though construction was underway for 54 years, you could say that they only really started in 1868 since they started over then.

St. Stephen's Basilica Continued

Without the bustling crowd visiting the church of our previous visit, I am able to photograph some things I either could not get a clear shot of or found so difficult to shoot, I gave up on. This time all was easy.

St. Stephen's Basilica

On our first outing into Budapest, we stopped for a a coffee and a roll (of course we stopped for food first) and contemplated the Basilica for a while. We decided to get tickets for a visit even though we've been there before. Unlike our previous visits, this day is warm, sunny, and we are early enough to miss the crowds.

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

Today is a special day in many places around the world. Unfortunately, we are not able to travel as we once did to see the many ways that Christmas is celebrated. So, I thought I'd bring you a few recent memories of our trip to Budapest so that we could all, once again, see what the world is supposed to be like. To celebrate Christmas, we will take a bit of a stroll through the Advent market that surround St. Stephen's Basilica.

St. Stephan's Basiclia

On our first attempt to see the inside of St. Stephen's Basilica, we were prevented from a full view inside by some activity that had most of the church roped off. On our second visit, it was fully open and I thought I'd update you with the full details. What a place this is!

St. Stephan's Basilica

The visit to St. Stephen's Basilica was both gratifying and annoying. It is a beautiful place and it is nice to see a place that really lives up to its reputation. On the other hand, visitors are restricted to a modest area near the door making it's hard to get the nice symmetric shots I enjoy taking. Nevertheless, here it is in all its glory... or at least all of it could access.

When you walk in the door, there is dome light just over your head. This makes for a nice image to show off the carefully patterned decorations, the guilding, and the generally darker character of the interior.