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Published: February 15th 2021
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15th February - Szentendre, Hungary
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Szentendre is 23Km north of Budapest. We started our tour on the shores of the Danube river at the gate of the Danube Bend.
It was interesting to note the different levels of the river bank that act as flood defences. The last big flood of the town was in 2017 and many of the houses overlooking the river were flooded out.
For a few years the town gas become a town of the painters. Every summer artists representing different styles, go on a pilgrimage to Szentendre in large numbers. Arriving early in the morning they sit down to a corner of a dilapidated house, and begin to paint a detail of the town.
Galleries were closed due to Covid but along the river bank on concrete bases were some artists work on display, bringing the art to the people.
The area where Szentendre is today was uninhabited when the Magyars arrived. In the 9th century. Little is known about the history of Szentendre between the 9th and 10th centuries.
Fleeing Ottoman Turkey in the late 17th century, throngs of Serbian and also Dalmatian and Greek immigrants settled in this sleepy medieval town after Habsburg Emperor Leopold I granted them civil and religious liberties. It was thanks to these newcomers that Szentendre began to flourish.
Evidence of the town's prosperity at this time can be seen in the baroque style of the houses, the Mediterranean atmosphere of the town's architecture, its churches, the cobblestoned streets, and its narrow alleys which we walked today with Adam our tour guide.
At its peak in the 18th century, Szentendre had a Serbian population of some 6,000 people, a total of eight orthodox churches, several Serbian schools, and a flourishing economy based on trade — using the nearby Danube for transport — and winemaking.
We saw an old wine merchants house with stone carved grapes above the door.
In the early 20th century, when the Balkan was freed from the Ottomans, this close-knit community of local Serbs returned to their motherland en masse, more than 200 years after they came to Szentendre. So today, there are only a dozen or so Serbian families left, and some
of the deserted Serbian Orthodox churches have been converted to Roman Catholic and Calvinist churches since.
We came to the main square
The Mighty Cross, or Column of the Mighty was set up in the square in 1763 as a thank you for the plague to stop. The cross was made in the style of late Rococo built by Serbian Orthodox people. According to legend, the epidemic had only one fatality, which was buried at the base of the cross. As per superstition, she was buried vertically, head down, so that the disease would never return to the city.
There are many churches in Szentendre, Known by different names, Belgrade Cathedral or Saborna has been a bishopric cathedral since its construction. The cathedral consecrated to the Virgin Mary, was built by Serbs, Dalmatians and Greeks who fled from Belgrade and the surrounding region. One of the most striking features of the church is that unlike other churches in town, its walls were originally built from brick and stone, rather than wood.
Construction work began in 1762 and the cathedral was consecrated in 1764.
The oldest church is St. John
the Baptist, it’s history goes back to the 13th century. The church was almost totally ruined again during the Ottoman occupation and was only reconstructed in the early 18th century.
Continuing our walk we passed the Jewish museum & prayer house.
György Szántó was a merchant, the prayer house and museum was created by his son in his parents’ house. The museum houses an exhibition of the life of the Jewish community before the second world war in Szentendre.
The Jewish community built a synagogue in 1850 and ten years later it already had a Jewish school. According to a 1929 survey the 100-200 strong Jewish community comprised of middle-class citizens, intellectuals, mainly merchants, some farmers, craftsmen, doctors, lawyers, engineers and officials. These people were the backbone of the community, which over time became the centre of smaller neighbouring communities as well.
However, the Szentendre community also fell victim to the shoah during WW2 and the majority of the Jewish population in and around the town was deported on 30 June 1944.
Today’s tour was a nice change from the city of Budapest and if we ever visit Budapest again especially
it would be lovely to take a shuttle boat from Budapest to Szentendre.
Always a pleasure to join Adam on his tours to the pretty town, as you will see from the number of return visits.
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