St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest, Hungary

The Christmas Market in front of Szent István Bazilika, St. Stephen's Basilica, Budapest, Hungary
The Christmas Market in front of St. Stephen’s Basilica.

Szent István Bazilika, Saint Stephen’s, serves as the main church for Budapest. It is named for Saint Stephen I of Hungary, who tradition says became the country’s first King on Christmas in the year 1000. He was canonized in 1083 by Pope Gregory VII for bringing Christianity to Hungary.

Inside St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest, Hungary

The church is quite new compared to most of the great cathedrals of Europe, completed in 1905 after fifty-four years of construction.

The breathtaking dome cupula of St. Stephen's Basilica, Budapest, Hungary
The breathtaking cupola (dome)

See our entire adventure in Budapest

The Climb to the Top of the Dome

The stairs up the Cathedral Dome of the St. Stephen's Basilica is Budapest, Hungary

Without really knowing what to expect, we bought tickets to go up in the tower.

Climbing the seemingly endless stairs, we were feeling certain that there must be something really good at the top.

Three hundred sixty four steps later we were not disappointed.

The top of the dome at St. Stephen's Basilica from the inside, Budapest, Hungary
The top of the dome from the inside.
The view from the top of Szent István Bazilika, St. Stephen's Basilica, Budapest, Hungary
The Parliament Dome is off in the distance in the fog.

From the top of the cathedral dome we had a 360 degree panoramic view of the entire city.

It looked to be the highest spot in town, but we discovered later that the dome on the parliament building is the exact same height.

This was done intentionally, to show the equality of political and religious power. By law, no building can be erected higher than the ninety-six meters of these two domes.

Close up of the towers of St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest, Hungary

The Christmas Market in front of St. Stephen's Basilica from above
The Christmas market in the plaza in front of the basilica – note the skating rink!

Saints watch over busy Budapest on St. Stephen's Basilica

See our entire adventure in Budapest!

The Holy Right Hand

The relic of St. Stephen's hand in Budapest, Hungary

Inside the basilica, the king who became the patron saint of Hungary is honored in several ways, including a display of his right hand.

Yes, the one thousand-year-old mummified hand of Saint Stephen is kept in a glass case in a small chapel at the back of the church.

We know this to be true because we saw it with our own eyes. Just slip a coin into a slot and a light comes on to reveal it, looking like it had the worst case of frostbite ever.

The one thousand year old mummified hand of Saint Stephen is kept in a glass case in Budapest, Hungary

We had to get out of there.

David & Veronica, GypsyNester.com

Thanks to Viking River Cruises for inviting us along and providing this adventure! As always, all opinions are our own.

Delve deeper:
See our entire adventure in Budapest
Check out the bustling Budapest Christmas Market
Discover more about Fisherman’s Bastion & Matthias Church
Continue along with us on our Christmas cruise along The Danube with stops in Budapest, Bratislavia, Vienna, Durnstein & Melk, Salzburg, and Passau.


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