Szekesfehervar Royal Basilica, Hungary - Church

Fort, Church

Hidden behind the bishop's fortress, is the archaeological place of the Romanesque royal cathedral with its foundations which have been uncovered in numerous excavations since 1936. The church, a triple-naved basilica with semi-circular apse in the east was founded by King Stephan proceeding to the year 1000 and reconstructed several times until the 15th C with the addition of a sepulchral chapel. It was of exceptional significance in the Middle Ages as the coronation church and place of burial of the Hungarian kings. Triggered by the marvelous discovery of the two undamaged sarcophagi of King Béla III and his wife Anna of Châtillon, which were transferred to the cathedral catacomb work began in the middle of the 19th C on the methodical excavation of the area.