St. Stephen's Mausoleum is a memorial building to

Stephen I of Hungary Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen ( ; ; ; 975 – 15 August 1038), was the last grand prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the first king of Hungary from 1000 or 1001 until his death in 1038. The year of his bi ...

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, 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 and ...

. It was built in the late 1930s behind the excavated ruins of the

Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary () was a basilica in Székesfehérvár (), 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 ...

where Stephen had been originally buried, and contains the 11th-century

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

of the deceased king.

Building and decoration

The mausoleum building was designed in 1936 by archaeologist in collaboration with his father , and completed in 1938. On the exterior are relief sculptures by . The interior walls are decorated with

frescoes Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

Vilmos Aba-Novák Vilmos Aba-Novák (, until 1912: ; March 15, 1894 – September 29, 1941"Aba Novák, Vilmos."
''Encyclop ...

representing themes related to St. Stephen, interpreted in the Hungarian political context of 1938. The main scenes are the "Holy Dexter" or Stephen's right hand, a relic that is now kept in

St. Stephen's Basilica St. Stephen's Basilica ( ) is a Roman Catholic basilica in Budapest, Hungary. It is named in honour of Stephen, the first King of Hungary (c. 975–1038), whose right hand is housed in the reliquary. Since the renaming of the primatial see, it ...

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 ...

, on the northern wall; and the

Holy Crown of Hungary The Holy Crown of Hungary ( , ), also known as the Crown of Saint Stephen, named in honour of Saint Stephen I of Hungary, was the coronation crown used by the Kingdom of Hungary for most of its existence; kings were crowned with it since the tw ...

(also known as the Crown of St. Stephen) on the southern wall, together with a procession of

rulers of Hungary A ruler, sometimes called a rule, scale, line gauge, or metre/meter stick, is an instrument used to make length measurements, whereby a length is read from a series of markings called "rules" along an edge of the device. Usually, the instr ...

and dignitaries, all the way to

Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya (18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957) was a Hungarian admiral and statesman who was the Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary Hungary between the World Wars, during the ...

and his former minister

Bálint Hóman Bálint Hóman (29 December 1885 – 2 June 1951) was a Hungarian scholar and politician who served as Minister of Religion and Education twice: between 1932 and 1938 and between 1939 and 1942. He died in prison in 1951 for his support of the ...

. Smaller scenes depict St. Gellért baptizing the Hungarians and the foundation of the church on the western (entrance) wall, and the legend of the dream of

Sylvester II Pope Sylvester II (; – 12 May 1003), originally known as Gerbert of Aurillac, was a scholar and teacher who served as the bishop of Rome and ruled the Papal States from 999 to his death. He endorsed and promoted study of Science in the medieva ...

and St. Stephen's

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

on the Eastern side. The frescoes' religious and political themes led to their

whitewash Whitewash, calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, asbestis or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime ( calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk (calcium carbonate, CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes ...

ing in the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

post-war era, which ironically contributed to their preservation. They were restored in 1996. The large stained glass window of the eastern wall was created by

Lili Árkayné Sztehló Lili Árkayné Sztehló (7 November 1897 – 28 October 1959 in Budapest) was a Hungarian painter and artist, wife of Bertalan Árkay, best known for her stained glass window paintings in parish churches and cathedrals throughout Hungary. Biog ...

and depicted episodes of St. Stephen's life. It was destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and recreated in 1996-97 using the artist's original patterns.

Sarcophagus

The sarcophagus of St. Stephen is a re-employed antique marble sarcophagus, which was recarved in the 11th century, most likely on the occasion of Stephen's

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon ca ...

in 1083. It is decorated with

cherub A cherub (; : cherubim; ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'') is one type of supernatural being in the Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden of ...

s, rosettes and flowers on the long sides, and with an angel on one of the short sides (the other is left uncarved). The sarcophagus is now empty. It was found in 1814 and kept from then in the

Hungarian National Museum The Hungarian National Museum (, ) was founded in 1802 and is the national museum for the history, art, and archaeology of Hungary, including areas not within Hungary's modern borders, such as Transylvania; it is separate to the collection of int ...

, but was only identified as St. Stephen's in 1930. As a consequence, it was transferred to Székesfehérvár and placed in the newly built mausoleum in 1938.

August 1938 celebrations

The mausoleum was a focal point of the 1938 celebration of the 900th anniversary of St. Stephen's death. A series of events that year culminated on August 18 with a special session of both houses of the

Hungarian Parliament The National Assembly ( ) is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 199 (386 between 1990 and 2014) members elected to four-year terms. Election of members is done using a semi-proportional representation: a mixed-member ...

that made August 20, the day of the deceased king's canonization in 1083, into a national holiday ( hu). The event was celebrated in 1941 by another fresco of Aba-Novák in Székesfehérvár City Hall, where the parliamentary session had taken place. The same day,

and accompanying dignitaries visited the mausoleum, with the frescoes still a work in progress presented to them by Aba-Novák, and went on to inaugurate the statue of St. Stephen by . The parliamentary session had originally been planned for August 21, but was brought forward because of an appointment of Horthy with

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

that was scheduled that day.

Gallery

File:Музей на раскопках СекешфехерварА (не для русского уха названьице) - panoramio.jpg, Exterior view of the mausoleum (right) and ossuary File:Székesfehérvár - Aba-Novák secco.jpg, Fresco of the Holy Crown of Hungary, featuring Bálint Hóman and Admiral Horthy (lower right) File:'Holy Right' fresco-secco by Vilmos Novák Aba. St. Stephen's mausoleum. Medieval Ruin Garden - National Memorial. Listed ID 3842. - 5, Várkörút, Koronázó Squre, Belváros, Székesfehérvár, Fejér county, Hungary.JPG, Fresco of the Holy Right Hand of St. Stephen File:Stained glass window. St. Stephen's mausoleum. Medieval Ruin Garden - National Memorial. Listed ID 3842. - 5, Várkörút, Koronázó Squre, Belváros, Székesfehérvár, Fejér county, Hungary.JPG, Stained glass window File:Carving of St. Stephen's sarcophagus. St. Stephen's mausoleum. Medieval Ruin Garden - National Memorial. Listed ID 3842. - 5, Várkörút, Koronázó Square, Belváros, Székesfehérvár, Fejér county, Hungary.JPG, Sarcophagus of St. Stephen, side view File:St. Stephen's sarcophagus. St. Stephen's mausoleum. Medieval Ruin Garden - National Memorial. Listed ID 3842. - 5, Várkörút, Koronázó Squre, Belváros, Székesfehérvár, Fejér county, Hungary.JPG, Sarcophagus of St. Stephen, front view File:Image on the sarcophagus of St Stephen.jpg, detail of the angel sculpture

Notes

{{coord, 47.19205, 18.41162, format=dms, type:landmark_region:HU, display=title Buildings and structures in Székesfehérvár 1938 establishments in Hungary Mausoleums