Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary


The Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was a basilica in Székesfehérvár, Hungary.

Background

It was built in the late 1010s by Saint Stephen I, the first King of Hungary. The basilica was an impressive building, one of the greatest in Hungary. It was never episcopal, but it was used as the principal church of the rulers of Hungary.
It was the most significant place of the Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages, as it contained the crown jewels, including the throne, the Holy Crown of Hungary, the treasury and the archives. 37 kings and 39 queens were crowned in this basilica and 15 were buried in it. In 1543, the Turks occupied Székesfehérvár. The royal graves were ransacked and the basilica was used to store gunpowder while St. Martin's Cathedral in Pozsony became the new coronation site.
In 1601, the valuable building was destroyed by fire. During this time, the Ottoman rule of the city was interrupted for about one year.
Its ruins were demolished and used for the construction of the new episcopal residence and for the reconstruction of another old church which in the 18th century became the cathedral of the Diocese of Szekesfehervar, erected in 1777.
In the late 1930s, St. Stephen's Mausoleum was erected behind the Basilica's ruined apse.

Burials

Thirteen kings and two queens consort were buried in Székesfehérvár Basilica.
  1. Stephen I
  2. Coloman
  3. Béla II
  4. Géza II
  5. Bela III, whose remains were later moved to Matthias Church, Budapest
  6. Agnes of Antioch, whose remains were later moved to Matthias Church, Budapest
  7. Ladislaus III
  8. Béla IV
  9. Charles I Robert
  10. Maria of Bytom
  11. Louis I
  12. Elizabeth of Bosnia, whose remains were moved to Székesfehérvár Basilica from the Church of St Chrysogonus in Zadar
  13. Albert
  14. Matthias I
  15. Vladislaus II
  16. Louis II
Family members of the kings of Hungary have also been buried in the basilica, such as Catherine, the eldest daughter and heiress presumptive of King Louis I by Elizabeth of Bosnia.