Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Ruins of the basilica
Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholicism
Status	ruined
Location
Location	Székesfehérvár, Hungary
Geographic coordinates	47.1917°N 18.4107°E / 47.1917; 18.4107

The Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Hungarian: Nagyboldogasszony-bazilika) was a basilica in Székesfehérvár (Latin: Alba Regia), Hungary. From the year 1000 until 1527, it was the site of the coronation of the Hungarian monarch. After the Ottomans occupied the city in 1543, coronations of the Hungarian monarch moved elsewhere; the building was extensively damaged in a fire in 1601. It was replaced by the Cathedral Basilica of Székesfehérvár in 1777.

Background

The Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in the late 1010s by Saint Stephen I, the first King of Hungary. It was never episcopal, but it was used as the principal church of the rulers of Hungary.

The basilica was the most significant place of the Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages, as it contained the crown jewels, including the throne, the Holy Crown of Hungary, the treasury and the archives. 37 kings and 39 queens were crowned in this basilica and 15 were buried in it. In 1543, the Turks occupied Székesfehérvár. The royal graves were ransacked and the basilica was used to store gunpowder, while St. Martin's Cathedral in Pozsony (today Bratislava, Slovakia) became the new coronation site.

In 1601, the building was destroyed by fire. During this time, the Ottoman rule of the city was interrupted for about one year.

Its ruins were demolished and used for the construction of the new episcopal residence and for the reconstruction of another old church which in the 18th century became the cathedral of the Diocese of Szekesfehervar, erected in 1777.

In the late 1930s, St. Stephen's Mausoleum was erected behind the Basilica's ruined apse.

Burials

Thirteen kings and two queens consort were buried in Székesfehérvár Basilica.

1. Stephen I
2. Coloman
3. Béla II
4. Géza II
5. Béla III, whose remains were later moved to Matthias Church, Budapest
6. Agnes of Antioch, whose remains were later moved to Matthias Church, Budapest
7. Ladislaus III
8. Béla IV
9. Charles I Robert
10. Maria of Bytom
11. Louis I
12. Elizabeth of Bosnia, whose remains were moved to Székesfehérvár Basilica from the Church of St Chrysogonus in Zadar
13. Albert
14. Matthias I
15. Vladislaus II
16. Louis II

Family members of the kings of Hungary have also been buried in the basilica, such as Catherine, the eldest daughter and heiress presumptive of King Louis I by Elizabeth of Bosnia.

• Philip Drugeth and Pipo of Ozora are buried here as well.

Gallery

• 
  Aerial view of the ruins
• 
  Merian's Theatrum Europaeum presents an almost peaceful exit (N) of the Turkish garrison out of an undestroyed Székesfehérvár after the Christian interim reconquest in 1601;
  G = "main church" – the basílica
• 
  Johan Sibmacher's "True depiction of the royal city of S., as it was reconquered by the Christians" shows the basilica destroyed and burning and some more buildings on fire.

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Hungary
• List of cathedrals in Hungary