Dunamente Turisztikai Térség

Calvary Chapel - Tata

The medieval village of Szentiván is located around the Calvary Hill today. A three-naved parish church, built in the 14th century, was located on this hilltop. The patron saint of the temple was named after the village patron - Saint Ivan, ie John the Baptist. The foundations of this former building with its founding walls and pillars separating the main nave from the aisles clearly visible in the foreground of today's chapel. On the Calvary Hill in Tata, you will find this small chapel, a 40-meter-high shot-tower, still operating as a viewing tower and a geological museum. The memory of Jakab Fellner, who plays a major role in the development of the Baroque cityscape, is guarded by a chapel named after him, and the Calvary group of statues, which is the work of Antal Schweiger, is located nearby.

Camaldolese hermitage - Oroszlány-Majkpuszta

Surrounded by forests and lakes, the Kamalduli Hermitage is a curiosity of Baroque monuments throughout Europe, consisting of seventeen detached cell houses, a church tower and a monastery. In 1733, József Esterházy founded the hermitage and donated 1200 acres of wilderness, lakes and mills. Following the Peace of Szatmár, ending the Rákóczi War of Independence in 1711, the majestic hermitage of the Kamalduli monastic order who took the vow to maintain silence was built on donations as a symbol of silence.

Synagogue - Nové Zámky

The Jewish community settled in Nové Zámky in the 19th century. Between 1859 and 1863, the Jewish religious community built its first synagogue. In 1885, a second, orthodox synagogue was built. Before the Holocaust in 1938, 2,800 Jews lived in the city. A ghetto was created in 1944, and on June 11 and 14, 1944, the Jews were deported to Auschwitz in two transports. 287 of them survived the Holocaust, only one out of ten. The neological synagogue was damaged during the bombing and later demolished. The orthodox synagogue, preserved to this day, has a rectangular floor plan and is single-story, with a choir. In its vicinity is a former school, currently used as a community center. There are several Holocaust memorials in the synagogue and its grounds.

Calvary Hill (Csima) – Bajna

The farm track which starts from a lay-by off the road between the villages of Bajna and Szomor leads to a Calvary hidden in a small forest surrounded by fields. An important commercial route passed by here during the reign of King Matthias and it was advantageous for the development of the area. However, it lost the majority of its population during the vicissitudes of the centuries, especially Ottoman rule, and as a result the village, which had previously played an important role, somewhat lost its significance. The increasingly deteriorating condition of its church symbolised this process until the population that remained in the village erected a small chapel in the 18th century using the rescued building stones of the church. The origin of the Calvary reaches back to that time, as indicated in documents recording that the Sándor family had it built in 1732. Nothing has remained from the former chapel, yet the surviving pieces of the Calvary preserve the memory of past generations.

Calvary – Dorog

No written documents exist about the pre-20th-century history of Dorog’s Calvary. Only a picture postcard recalls its former three wooden crosses. Its present terraced design was constructed in 1928. It was at that time when the stations decorated with ceramic images were made. The following year saw the consecration of its small chapel, which was unfortunately demolished in 1981. It was replaced by a pithead frame commemorating coal mining, which used to play a prominent role in the life of the village. The edifices and statues were completely renovated in 1996 when the Stations of the Cross were decorated by a series of enamel images. Looking around from the foot of the group of statues you can see the town of Dorog in the foreground, while the Danube and Esztergom are in the distance.

Klastrompuszta – Kesztölc

The Pauline Order is the only order to have been founded by Hungarians for monks and hermits which is still functioning. At present the centre of the Pauline Order is in the monastery of Jasna Góra, Częstochowa, Poland. The seat of the Hungarian province can be found in the town of Pécs. The order was established by the Esztergom canon, Blessed Özséb, in 1250 when he gathered hermits who lived in solitude, withdrawn from the world, from caves in the Csévi cliffs, which are a bit to the south from here in the Pilis Hills. In parallel a church and then a monastery were erected in honour of the Holy Cross in Klastrompuszta. After receiving the Pope’s blessing, this monastery became the first centre of the Pauline Order. The first three superiors, Özséb, Benedek and István, were buried here. Later the centre of the order was moved to Budaszentlőrinc and thus the significance of the monastery in Klastrompuszta diminished. The Turks ravaged and burnt the buildings after the Battle of Mohács and locals slowly carried away the stones for nearby construction work.

Capuchin church – Tata

 The building of the Capuchin church was funded by the patron landlord Count József Esterházy, who also settled the monastic order in Tata. The foundation stone of the church was laid in 1743. The outer appearance reflects modesty, the consciously adapted principle of the order, and it is only the wooden-shingled ridge turret that lends the otherwise austere building some characteristic feature. On the keystone of the portal, made from red marble quarried in the nearby Gerecse mountains, you can find the sign of the Capuchin order, while above the portal the Esterházy coat-of-arms can be seen. Surprisingly enough, the plain exterior hides a fascinating baroque interior. The finest ornaments of the single-naved church are the richly carved main altar dominating the whole chancel and the side altars on both sides of the triumphal arch. The largest part of the monastery adjacent to the church is closed to visitors; one part, however, has been converted into a museum. Through the most beautiful objects once owned by the monks, the collection on display gives an insight into the religious lives and prayers of the Capuchins, as well as the fascinating spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the order. The Capuchin fathers living in Tata have been managing the parish of Tóváros since 1989. The brown felt habits of the monks living in isolation, yet working for the world’s benefit are held up by a white rope belt, on which the three knots symbolise the order’s three vows such as poverty, chastity, and obedience.

At the corner of the church there is a monument with the replica of the consecrated ceremonial sword presented to King Ladislaus II by the papal envoy, who took part in the national assembly of 1510.