Bélai Iván [et al.]: Köztéri alkotások

VI. Utószó

INTRODUCTION ESZTERGOM is one of the richest cities in historical records, in spite of the Mongol invasion of Hungary, of being ruled by the Turkish for 130 years, of its loosing Párkány (today Sturovo, on the other side of the Danube) which used to be the city's economic background, and finally, of the harmful effects of World War II. In addition to this, during the 40 years of socialism, the city was entitled »the city of darkness, the home of the dark reaction«, and every attempts to cherish the past and keep it alive were oppressed. The so-called »development« of those days have turned out to be serious burdens by this time: the factories have been closed, and though the number of the inhabitants has doubled, people did not become real citizens of Esztergom. This means that they only live in the city, without being spiritually connected to it. Esztergom has been thought of as the city of the Hungarian archbishops, the Hungarian Rome. Yet, the situation is quite different today: the city is not a clerical centre any longer, since the archbishop of Hungary resides in Buda. The chapter is on its way toward cessation, and schools decline as well. Anyway, some records can be also noticed chat prove that the city was defined with the characteristic feature of being a clerical centre, and by its religious inhabitants. Today Esztergom has 8 churches, 8 small chapels, 2 calvaries, a great number of crosses and statues and 2 cemeteries with artistic records. Esztergom also has two catholic colleges, two religious houses wich secondary schools (one is run by nuns and the other is by monks), and a catholic elementary school. These institutions, together with the renewing unions, could provide a good fundament for the city to recover form its spiritual paralysis. We would like to encourage the citizens of Esztergom with this issue to get to know our city's spiritual and intellectual roots, so that they can build their future on these fundaments. This issue -together with the others- will hopefully present Esztergom's artistic tresures, such as the »Bazilika« -the great Cathedral of Esztergom, the Treasury, The Royal Palace, the Bibliotheca, the Primatial-, the Capitular-, the County- and finally the City Archives. There are also some museums that are worth visiting, namely the Christian Muse-