Gellért Hill Calvary () was a Late Baroque

calvary Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

Gellért Hill Gellért Hill (; ; ) is a high hill overlooking the Danube in Budapest, Hungary. It is located in the 1st and the 11th districts. The hill was named after Saint Gerard who was thrown to death from the hill. The famous Hotel Gellért and th ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

which was demolished around 1950.

History

The first calvary on Gellért Hill was built in 1715 by a citizen of

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

on the initiative of the

Jesuit Order The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by ...

. The simple structure was made up of two stone sculptures and a wooden

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

. In 1795 Mihály Füll (or Fühl) launched a public fundraising to build a new monument replacing the old one which was already decaying. The magistrate of Buda supported the initiative but it took decades to realize. In 1822 the calvary was described as ''"recentius a Cive Michaele Fühl exstructa"'' (recently built by Mihály Fühl). The road to the new sculpture group was lined by stations whose paintings depicted the sufferings of Christ. On

Easter Monday Easter Monday is the second day of Eastertide and a public holiday in more than 50 predominantly Christian countries. In Western Christianity it marks the second day of the Octave of Easter; in Eastern Christianity it marks the second day of Br ...

s a procession climbed the steep road leading to the calvary to celebrate Christ's resurrection. Tents and vendors were erected on a nearby meadow. The ''emmausjárás'' (Emmaus-walk) or ''tojásbúcsú'' (egg feast) was one of the most popular Catholic holidays of the year during the 18-19th centuries.Népszabadság Online: A vén Gellért-hegy oldalán…
/ref> In 1873 the citizens of the

Tabán The Tabán usually refers to an area within the 1st district of Budapest, the capital of Hungary. It lies on the Buda (i.e., western) side of the Danube, to the south of György Dózsa Square, on the northern side of Elisabeth Bridge and to the ...

district repaired a few stations and decorated them with new paintings, painted on wood by „C. Sauer”. Many stations were demolished in the 1920s. Only three of them were still standing in the 1930s. The last photo showing the decaying structure was published in 1943. The calvary was demolished around 1950.

Description

The calvary stood in a very small, rectangular courtyard surrounded by brick walls. The front side was closed by a wooden gate between two brick pillars. The pillars were crowned with iron crosses mounted on stone balls. The back wall was arched. The stone crucifix of the calvary was 3.5 m high and it was surrounded by three painted stone sculptures:

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

kneeling, the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and

John the Apostle John the Apostle (; ; ), also known as Saint John the Beloved and, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he ...

standing. There was wooden niche behind the calvary symbolizing the Holy Sepulchre with two wooden angels.

Notes

Sources

* Horler Miklós: Budapest műemlékei, 1962 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gellert Hill Calvary Religious buildings and structures completed in 1715 Buildings and structures demolished in 1950 Buildings and structures in Budapest 1715 establishments in the Habsburg monarchy 18th-century establishments in Hungary Demolished buildings and structures in Hungary