Hardly any other town is so closely linked with the beginnings of the Hungarian monarchy as Székesfehérvár. It can claim to be the oldest seat of the monarchy and also possesses (still present as ruins) the former sepulchral and coronation church of the Hungarian kings. This town, situated between the foothills of the Bakony Forest and the Velencei Mountains, has a well preserved inner town, which is almost provincial Baroque in appearance with numerous places of interest. Székesfehérvár is the regional capital and important industrial center (aluminum, electronics, automobile manufacture).
History
The Magyars are said to have already settled in the region around Székesfehérvár at the time of the conquest.
Prince Géza, the father of King Stephan I, erected a castle in 972 on a hill surrounded by marshes, where he was interred in 997. The town, which, under Stephan I, rose to be the second most important town after Esztergom, was first recorded as "Alba regia" (Latin: "white chair") in 1002. Around 1000 Stephan I commissioned the building of a Romanesque church in which Hungarian kings were crowned and interred until the 16th C. The town was spared the ravages of the Mongol attacks in the 13th C but not its capture by the Turks in 1543, who remained in Székesfehérvár almost 150 years (until 1688). At a time in which the Habsburgs and Ottomans were dividing up the empire between them and the seat of parliament had been moved to Bratislava the old royal town was compelled to forfeit its importance. Following its elevation to the seat of a bishop in 1777 it had expanded into a Baroque town by the end of the century with 12,000 inhabitants. In the 19th C the citizens drained the marshes and dismantled the town walls in order to extend the town outwards. Not until after the Second World War did the regional capital of Féjer develop into an important industrial center.
The inconspicuous two-story building with the inscription "Fekete Sas" over the entrance is the "Black Eagle" pharmacy. It houses the superbly crafted interior of the former Jesuit pharmacy which was completed in the order's workshop in 1758 and transferred to this building following their dissolution in 1776.
József Budenz (1836-92), who developed comparative Finno-Ugrian linguistics, was born in the charming Rococo building (1781). Nowadays it accommodates the Ybl Museum which has the art collection of Ervin Ybl and documents and personal items belonging to the architect Miklós Ybl. Ybl is the most significant representative of historical architecture in Hungary.
Hours:
March 5 to April 27: 10am-4pm; Closed: Mon
April 28 to October 3: 10am-6pm; Closed: Mon, Mon
October 4 to October 30: 10am-2pm; Closed: Mon, Mon, Mon
In the northeast corner of the Old Town, a narrow building houses the extensive collections of the István Király Museum with numerous exhibits on the history and culture of the town and region. The Roman finds are particularly interesting, together with those from the Magyar empire and stonemasonry from the Royal Basilica.
No. 15 Kossuth utca was formerly the Pelican Inn where, in the 19th C, the town's actors used to meet and perform. A few yards on the road opens out (at the point where Táncsics utca joins) to a small square with a striking art nouveau house, almost oriental in appearance, and adjoining domed baths.
The old Serbian quarter lies in the west of the Old Town in the Rác utca. Some houses have been converted to an open-air museum, documenting the art and lifestyle of the Serbs. The Greek Orthodox church is a narrow Baroque building from the first half of the 18th C. It has a fine iconostasis and a 15th C Madonna icon.
Szent Anna kápolna to the left of the cathedral is the only completely intact medieval building in the town. Built in 1478 as a cemetery chapel and used as a mosque during the Turkish period this small church was again Christian in the early 18th C and furnished with a Baroque altar; the roof ridge is a 19th C addition. A window rose crowns the narrow portal; the three narrow-arched windows display High Gothic tracery (foils).
Arany János utca comes to a point at Szent István tér with the regional town hall (1807-12) by Mihály Pollack and Johann Tegl on the long right side. In the middle of the square is the equestrian statue of King Stephan by Ferenc Sidló in 1938.
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Szekesfehervar
