Gyor - Cathedral of the Virgin Mary

Opposite the Bishop's Castle, stands the town's most important historical building. The Cathedral dates back to an 11th C triple-aisled Romanesque building, which was rebuilt after having been destroyed by the Mongols (13th-15th C; north side-apse, St Ladislaus Chapel). The Early Baroque interior was added after the Turkish period; this includes the barrel vaulting with engraved coping 1639-45 by the Italian master Giovanni Battista Rava. The exterior is dominated by the west façade and tower, built in 1803-23 in a mixture of 18th C plait style and Classicism by Jakob Hendler. The ceiling frescos and the main altarpiece (Assumption of the Virgin Mary) are masterpieces by Franz Anton Maulbertsch, painted between 1772 and 1781. The Ascension can be seen depicted in the central aisle, in the north aisle the Transfiguration of Christ, in the south aisle scenes from the life of St Stephen, and in the choir Hungarian saints. The contrast between light and dark used by Maulbertsch in his paintings in the side-aisles in particular - the Crucifixion, Christ on the Mount of Olives - illustrate the power of expression he was able to achieve in his work.

The revered image above the north side-altar shows Mary with the Infant Jesus; it is Irish in origin and was brought to Gyor in the 17th C.