Székesfehérvár
Alba Regia, an ancient Hungarian city, with 'white', the colour of princes, in its name, was founded in 972 and was the first seat of the Hungarian monarchs. The country's main church, where 37 kings and 39 queens were crowned and 15 monarchs were buried, stood here for 500 years. The Holy Crown and the Archives were kept here and the Hungarian Diets were also held here. The outstanding role that the city played in the Middle Ages is witnessed by the main sights of Városház tér, including the orb and the Franciscan church built on the site of King St. Stephen's palace, where frescoes evoke the life of his son, St. Imre, who passed away at a young age. The Turks destroyed the coronation church in 1602.
Today only its foundations can be seen in the national memorial place, one of the most important groups of monuments in the country (Medieval Garden of Ruins, Koronázó tér), including the stone coffin of King St. Stephen (970?-1038) in a mausoleum decorated with frescoes depicting historical events. The ossuary keeps the remains of the Hungarian kings buried here. On what is today Géza fejedelem tér, a castle stood as early as 970 A.D., along with a small arched chapel, the floor plan of which, made of white stones, can be seen on the road. King Béla, who was king of Hungary at the time of the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, built the subsequent Episcopal cathedral as a royal palace before he moved his household to Buda. The cranium relic of St. Stephen is kept in the Baroque cathedral. The only surviving medieval building in the city is the net-vaulted St. Anna chapel from the 15th century. By prior arrangement, the Carmelite church and monastery (Petőfi utca), one of the city's most splendid monuments, can also be visited. The walls of the church with a superb interior are decorated with frescoes painted by F. A. Maulbertsch. Baroque is the dominant style of the exquisite mansions of the landed aristocracy and the houses that once belonged to the middle classes in the city, which became a bishopric in 1777. The first Hungarian-language theatre operated here in the Győri House (15 Kossuth Lajos utca). The Baroque-Rococo splendour of the 18th-century Hiemer House (1 Jókai utca) with its closed balcony on the corner is magnificent. The Romantic residences at the Classicistic Vörösmarty tér show the workmanship of the architect Miklós Ybl (1814-1891), the city's famous son. The flower clock (Fő utca), always decorated with flowers of the season, is a rare sight. The skanzen in Palotaváros (11 Rác utca), winner of the Europa Nostra Award for saving folk architecture, contains 12 cottages and a Serbian church with a splendid iconostasis. The House of Trades, in the museums in Rácváros (Serbian Quarter), detailing small crafts and the life of the guilds, offers interesting activities demonstrating the various craft techniques, at which visitors are invited to try their hand. The sculptor Jenő Bory (1879-1959) spent decades building a romantic Gothic (concrete) castle with his own hands. Blending various architectural styles, the Bory Castle (54 Máriavölgyi út) houses his own works and those of contemporary sculptors.
