Danube Bend Towns


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Europe » Hungary » Central Hungary » Szentendre
July 27th 2013
Published: July 27th 2013
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Esztergom BasilicaEsztergom BasilicaEsztergom Basilica

Taken from Slovakian side of the Danube
It was a long journey across Slovakia to the first of the Danube Bend towns in Hungary. Two buses followed by two trains. Felt like we were on some completely off the tourist route journey. At one of the stops we had an hour to spare and had a coffee in the platform café, very pleasant but the views were of a run-down old station with trains sitting around for the few journeys that happened each day. Felt like I’d disturbed the café owner from socializing with her beer drinking friends.

Across the border in Hungary the basilica on a hill in Esztergom is stunning. It’s a huge building on a small escarpment above the Danube with the small town below. The town had some lovely old buildings but we had the feeling it was hoping more tourists would spend their money in the town, has the feeling of somewhere they tried to renovate but it never took off, closed up cafes and restaurants and a complete lack of atmosphere in the town itself. The basilica was worth a look inside, big paintings and massive space. The treasury was interesting, I learnt some new words as there were beautifully embroidered mitres and chasubles as well as jewel encrusted chalices and delicate handmade gold lace. There was also a very valuable calvary made from émail en ronde bosse (I had to write that down, it’s to do with enameling), one of only 50 items in the world still existing of Gothic work in this technique. I’m not a great fan of religious art but as Esztergom was the centre of the Catholic Church in Hungary for a long time the items on display from the 1200s onwards were quite special.



There are three more Danube Bend towns heading towards Budapest, we decided to visit one other, the closest to the city called Szentendre. The oddest thing there was going into the little shop next to the slightly out of the centre pension and finding someone who’s English and had also lived in Auckland for 4 years. This town is delightful, pretty buildings everywhere, a church on the hill, red roofs, cobbled streets, pavement cafes, really nice. The Danube wasn’t so pretty here and although there are lots of churches nothing along the lines of the basilica in Esztergom. Enjoyed being there in the evening and early the next morning before mass tourism hit the town.

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