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Seven churches are known from the Middle Ages on Castle Hill. The St. Adalbert Cathedral, which according to our written sources existed already around 1010, was located approximately on the site of today’s Basilica. To the North, next to the North Tower of today’s Basilica, was the St. Stephen Protomartyr Church, which was built by Prince Géza and chronologically was the first church in this place. The third church was The Round Chapel from the time of St. Stephen discovered in the Árpád-házi royal palace. A certificate from 1284 mentions the Saint Vid chapel (the fourth church) located on the Castle Hill in Esztergom. The fifth church of medieval origin is also located in the Árpád-házi royal palace, it is III. Béla’s Castle Chapel. The sixth outstanding masterpiece of Hungarian Renaissance architecture is the Bakócz Chapel, which was built in the 16th century. Since its relocation in 1823 it has been the Side Chapel of the Basilica.
The largest ecclesiastical construction of the first half of the 20th century was the Esztergom Cathedral. Between 1822-1869, four prince-primates built the classicist-style Basilica based on the plans of Pál Kühnel, János Packh, and then József Hild.
A model of the complex of buildings covering the Castle Hill, designed by Sándor Rudnay, can still be viewed in the Treasury of the Basilica. Unfortunately, the cathedral and the canon houses were realized from the large-scale plan only partially. The relocation of the Bakócz chapel is attributed to János Packh: in 1823 it was dismantled into 1600 parts, then changed its orientation and was included in the new cathedral and left for posterity.
The construction of the cathedral led by Packh was successful. After his murder in 1839, the main walls of the building, the four giant pillars supporting the future dome and the vaults connecting them were already built, and the vaulting of the altar was in progress. The construction was taken over by József Hild. The final form of the Basilica is thanks to him. In 1846, the cross was placed on the dome. When it was consecrated in 1856 with the “Missa solennis” composed for the occasion by Ferenc Liszt, the building was far from complete. The capstone was finally laid on November 1, 1869.
In terms of dimensions, the Esztergom Basilica is the largest church building in Hungary, it is 100 meters high from the lower church to the sphere of the dome.
