Vác Cathedral
The Cathedral of Vác in the Hungarian town of Vac is the Episcopal Church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vác . It is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary and the Archangel Michael .
history
The diocese has already in 1004 under Stephen I founded. A first cathedral was located here in 1074. It was destroyed in the 14th century during the Mongol storm. During the Ottoman occupation of Hungary, the last remains of the masonry also collapsed. Some of the ruins are still visible today. A new church could only be built after the Turks had left. Bishop Karl Eszterházy from the important Hungarian magnate family (ruled 1760–1762) arranged for a larger new building according to plans by Franz Anton Pilgram . His successor Christoph Migazzi , however, was critical of this design, which is why the already begun cathedral was continued by Isidore Canevale , whose concept was significantly less expensive. Construction began in 1761. The cathedral was consecrated in 1772 thanks to good funding. The furnishing work lasted until 1777. Today's church is the fifth church at this point. In 1944 a Soviet bomb fell into the dome, but did not detonate. A fresco in the church depicts this miracle.
description
The main facade with its two towers faces the Danube and shapes the city skyline. Although the church is a baroque building , it already shows clear characteristics of classicism . The 72 meter long and 34 meter wide structure is surmounted by a 55 meter high dome, which itself has a diameter of 38 meters. There are five bells hanging in the two towers, the largest of which is 4,200 kg in the south tower, the others are in the north tower. The watches come from the Rancz company .
The 50 meter long interior of the cathedral presents itself with Corinthian columns. The rear columns towards the choir are closer together than at the entrance. This perspective effect directs the view to the choir, the pillars serve as a gate. Otherwise the interior presents itself in baroque splendor. The color blue dominates the interior of the church, which can seat up to 5,000 people with just 278 seats.
The fresco in the dome is by Franz Anton Maulbertsch and shows 14 Hungarian saints, the Most Holy Trinity and the Assumption of Mary. The high altar picture was also created by Maulbertsch in 1771/1772 and shows Mary's visit to Elisabeth . After the war, some frescoes were added. These are rather gray and show, among other things, the foundation of the diocese by St. Stephen and the Lord's Supper .
There are four side altars in the church, including one by Kremser Schmidt . They show St. John of Nepomuk , St. Anthony of Padua , the Assumption of Mary and the Archangel Michael, who banishes the devil. Bishops and canons are buried in the crypt under the church. To the left of the choir there is also an elaborately designed pulpit. In the same place on the right-hand side of the choir there is an oratorio which, for reasons of symmetry, serves as a counter pulpit.
The choir is flanked by two small organs that are part of an organ system. The main organ is located opposite the choir above the main entrance. It comes from the Rieger organ building workshop and was only installed in the cathedral in 1940. The damage in World War II was enormous, but the organ was restored by 1950. Of the original 48 registers , however, only 32 remained. In 1981/82 the organ was restored again.
Web links
- Page of the diocese (Hungarian)
- templom.hu (Hungarian)
Coordinates: 47 ° 46 ′ 33.4 ″ N , 19 ° 7 ′ 52.9 ″ E