Győr Cathedral

West facade

inside view

The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Győr , Hungary, is the episcopal church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Győr .

history

The original Romanesque church from the 11th century was destroyed by the Mongols and rebuilt from the 13th to the 15th centuries under György Draskovich. After the Turks were driven out , the interior was redesigned in early baroque style from 1635 to 1650 by the Italian master Giovanni Battista Rava . The tower was not added until 1680. The complete furnishing of the church dragged on until 1770. The last restoration took place from 1968 to 1972. The cathedral was raised to the rank of minor basilica in 1997 by Pope John Paul II .

Architecture and equipment

The external appearance is dominated by the classicist west facade with a small, white tower. It was redesigned by Jakob Hedler from 1803 to 1823.

The ceiling frescoes and the altarpiece showing the Assumption of Mary are masterpieces by Franz Anton Maulbertsch and were created between 1772 and 1781. The ceiling frescoes show the Assumption of Mary (main nave) and the Transfiguration of Christ (north aisle) as well as scenes from the life of St. Stephen (south aisle).

Side altar with the venerated image of Mary

One of the main attractions is the altar in the north aisle with a picture of Mary with the Christ Child. It is because of him that pilgrims come to Győr, they worship it as a miraculous image . The picture comes from the cathedral of the Clonfert diocese in Ireland. When the persecution of the Catholics began after the conquest of Ireland by Oliver Cromwell in 1649, the equipment of the Catholic churches began to be destroyed. Walter Lynch, Bishop of Clonfert since 1647 , managed to smuggle the picture out of the country. He himself was arrested but was able to escape in 1652. In exile in Vienna he met the bishop of Győr, János Püsky, who in 1655 invited his brother Walter Lynch to Győr. He had brought the precious picture with him. Bishop Lynch died in 1663; on the death bed he gave the picture to the diocese of Győr. It has been in the cathedral since then.

Footnotes

↑ Joan Carroll Cruz: Miraculous Images of Our Lady. 100 Famous Catholic Portraits and Statues . Tan Books, Rockford, Ill. 1993, ISBN 978-0-89555-484-0 , chapter 33 (on the Madonna of Győr).
↑ Erika Papp Faber: Our Mother's tears. Ten weeping madonnas in historic Hungary . Academy of the Immaculate, New Bedford 2006, ISBN 1-60114-031-2 , p. 46.
^ Nicholas Santoro: Mary in our life. Atlas of the names and titles of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and their place in Marian devotion . iUniverse, Bloomington 2011, ISBN 978-1-4620-4021-6 , p. 35.

Web links

Commons : Győr Cathedral - collection of images, videos and audio files

planetware.com (english)
churchcrawler (english)
geocaching.com (English)

47.689002 17.631349Coordinates: 47 ° 41 '20.4 " N , 17 ° 37' 52.9" E

[1] Joan Carroll Cruz: Miraculous Images of Our Lady. 100 Famous Catholic Portraits and Statues . Tan Books, Rockford, Ill. 1993, ISBN 978-0-89555-484-0 , chapter 33 (on the Madonna of Győr).

[2] Erika Papp Faber: Our Mother's tears. Ten weeping madonnas in historic Hungary . Academy of the Immaculate, New Bedford 2006, ISBN 1-60114-031-2 , p. 46.

[3] Nicholas Santoro: Mary in our life. Atlas of the names and titles of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and their place in Marian devotion . iUniverse, Bloomington 2011, ISBN 978-1-4620-4021-6 , p. 35.