St. Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest

St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest was completed in 1905, and is grand enough to rival those in Vienna and Berlin. The work started in 1851, but took longer than expected as the dome collapsed in 1868, due to faulty construction. The Neo-Baroque Cathedral’s dome, became a major feature of the city’s skyline. It was named in honour of King Stephen I of Hungary, who was later Canonized to become St. Stephen.  While the building may not be medieval, there is something inside that most definitely is. 

Sometimes, there are things that other cultures and religions do, which we may find hard to understand today.  In the Middle Ages, reliquaries were popular church items.  They were created using the finest gems, gold and artistic talent.  These beautiful items were made to hold holy relics. Holy relics is a nice way of naming what was usually someone’s body part.  This was a popular practice throughout medieval Europe.  In the UK, the reformation got rid of all such relics, but this was not the same on mainland Europe.  St. Stephen’s Basilica is not just named after the saint, it also contains a beautiful reliquary, which holds St. Stephen's mummified right hand. The bizarre juxtaposition when one views this, between the beautifully crafted reliquary and this awful mummified hand, is quite striking.  As a curious person I wanted to see it, but I wouldn’t have wanted to photograph it, it is one memory I’m happy to let fade.  What I do remember though, was that in order to view it you had to put a coin into the machine, which reminded me of a 20th Century carnival amusement, where the curtain would draw and a light would come on, allowing you to view the reliquary.  This is truly the middle ages brought into modern times. We are still paying to see relics, which makes money for the church.  In studying the past, you sometimes find it in the strangest things. This time it was both quite interesting, and a bit disturbing.  

It was common in the Middle Ages to parade relics on special occasions, and today, St. Stephen's right hand, known as ‘the Holy Right’, goes for a walk every year on the 20th of August.  This is also St. Stephens day, which is dedicated to celebrating the founder of the Hungarian nation.  The relic, St. Stephen's right hand, leads the parade each year.  St. Stephen, was previously King Stephen, before he was Canonized in 1083. As part of the process, his corpse was exhumed from his crypt.  It is said that his right arm, (although perhaps not the rest of him), was found to be as fresh as the day he was buried.  This lack of decay was thought to be a sign of sainthood. Because his arm was still in good condition, it was cut off, preserved, and venerated.  ‘The Holy Right’ did some traveling through its 1,000 history. In the 13th Century, it was sent to Dubrovnik in Croatia, for safekeeping by Dominican monks.  Apparently, while they had it, they cut the hand from the arm, then sent the upper arm to Lemburg, and the lower arm to Vienna. In 1771, the Empire took ‘the Holy Right’ and placed it in Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, before eventually returning it to Hungary.  During WWII, it was taken back to Austria, and kept by the Archbishop of Salzburg. In 1945, a priest in the American army brought the hand from Austria, back to Hungary.