On Saturday the 28th of February we broke away from our excursion group to buy tickets to visit the inside of St. Stephen’s Basilica situated centrally in the Pest side of Budapest. This is a photo heavy post!
St. Stephen’s Basilica is a Roman Catholic basilica in Budapest, Hungary. It is named in honor of Stephen, the first King of Hungary, whose right hand is housed in the reliquary.
It was awe-inspiring to see this finished work of art.
It is one of the grandest buildings we have been in.
This is kind of creepy to me. This is the right hand relic of King Stephen of Hungary. King Stephen died in August of 1038.
Not being Catholic, this Basilica was not a point of worship for me and in fact holds some areas of veneration that are against my beliefs. I did appreciate the beauty and the grandeur of the building. The way the architecture and artwork draws your eyes upward is appreciated, too. It is an amazing collection of artwork and treasures but not something to be worshipped in itself.
I’ll share the views from the panorama look-out in another post since this post is already photo heavy.
It is going to take a while to share much of our Danube River and Cambridge adventures.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Beautiful church, lovely photos. Take care, have a great day!
It is a beautiful building, but I would also share your views otherwise concerning the fact that it wouldn’t be a place of worship for me.
…the art is amazing!
What a beautiful building. The stained glass and sculpture and the architecture are incredible.
Such an amazing experience!
Your photos are so beautiful. Sounds like a lovely visit.
This is such a beautiful post. As a Catholic it makes me happy to see you appreciate the amazing art. We don’t worship anything in any church or cathedral – we worship only the unseen, the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All other things, such as statues, paintings, relics, etc., are venerated as being connected to the Trinity, never worshiped.
As to the construction of these amazing church buildings, (from google:) these immense projects were a blend of professional skill and communal, faithful volunteerism. While the master stonemasons and architects were professionals, the “sweat equity” of the local faithful was essential to completing these monumental structures.
We’re all children of God. God is Love. And I love you!!
(My great grandmother was a Mennonite who wore the black bonnets and dresses as in the past.)
Ruth, thank you for taking the time to explain how you worship. Our triune God is worthy of all our worship for sure. The skills involved in constructing these buildings reminds me of the Old Testament accounts on how God gifted men to build the temple and the Ark to his specifications. By the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and repenting and believing on Him to take away our sins we can become children of God. God bless you.
Amazing photos Ellen, a spectacular place indeed. Thank you so much for sharing them.
I am a Catholic, and appreciate your beautiful photos of this catherdral. A place of worship is a testament to man’s desire to worship God. The reason a body part or parts are placed on display for a saint is because part of the process towards sainthood was the fact that a saint’s body, or part of the body, did not decay, called “Incorruptibility.” As you can imagine, some customs and procedures change with 2,000 years of time, etc., and I do not think that is still an factor any longer toward being recognized as a saint.
Thank you for sharing these beautiful pictures.
Impressive!! So intricate!!
Absolutely breathtaking – the height of human spirit and engineering.
Absolutely incredible, Ellen! I so enjoyed all of the pictures and the amazing energy and skill it took to build such grandeur. The picture of the hand is strange, indeed! So thankful that we know to worship Jesus, and not idols or statues. Blessings to you dear friend!