The Dark Gate (or alternatively Dark Portal, Hungarian: ''Sötétkapu'') is a tunnel located under the artificial slopes of Castle Hill near St. Adalbert's Basilica in

Esztergom Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Danu ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. The tunnel is 90 metres long and follows the line of the castle's former eastern walls. The entire tunnel is

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

and built in

Neo-classical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

History

Construction of the Dark Gate started in 1824 by

Alexander Rudnay Alexander Stefan Rudnay de Rudna et DivékujfaluMarkó 2006, p. 325. ( hu, rudnai és divékujfalusi Rudnay Sándor István; 4 October 1760 – 13 September 1831) was a Hungarian– Slovak Roman Catholic prelate. He started as a parish priest, ...

Archbishop of Esztergom In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

, two years after the foundation stones of St. Adalbert's Basilica were laid. It became known as Dark Gate due to the lack of lighting. The main purpose of the tunnel was to directly connect the Canonic houses with the

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

, but it also connects the Szentgyörgymező neighborhood with downtown Esztergom. Above the southern entrance, a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

sign carved in red marble commemorates Archbishop Rudnay and the year of construction: "PRINCEPS PRIMAS ALEXANDER A RUDNA MDCCCXXIV" (" Prince Primate Alexander Rudnay 1824"). From both sides of the tunnel, a huge 3700 m²

wine cellar A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae, or plastic containers. In an ''active'' wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system. ...

opens, where the wines of the

Archdiocese of Esztergom In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

were kept. During the 1956 revolution, significant events occurred in Esztergom. On 26 October 1956, fourteen people died in the Dark Gate when a

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...

tank shot into a bus heading towards the seminary, which was used as a Russian military facility at the time. The Dark Gate, the seminary, and its surroundings were completely renovated by 2006, the 150th anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral.

Architectural lighting Architectural lighting design is a field of work or study that is concerned with the design of lighting systems within the built environment, both interior and exterior. It can include manipulation and design of both daylight and electr ...

was added to both the basilica and the tunnel.

One-way traffic One-way traffic (or uni-directional traffic) is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction. One-way streets typical ...

is allowed from the seminary to downtown Esztergom.

Gallery

image:Esztergom.tabla.1956.JPG,

Commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

with the names of people who died in 1956 in the tunnel image:Esztergom.sotetkapu.JPG, The southern entrance from downtown image:Esztergom-Bazilika+Sotetkapu.JPG, The cathedral and the northern entrance image:Esztergom-Dark Gate+Wine Cellar.JPG, A door to the wine cellar at the end of the tunnel image:Sotetkapu.JPG

References

Komárom-Esztergom megye műemlékjegyzéke
*Kovács László: Az 1956-os forradalom története Esztergomban *https://web.archive.org/web/20110520141422/http://www.privatbankar.hu/html/cikk/cikk.php?kommentar=25192 {{coord, 47, 47, 58.4, N, 18, 44, 16, E, region:HU_type:landmark, display=title Tunnels in Hungary Buildings and structures in Esztergom