St. Stephen's Basilica

This guide to St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest follows the Holy Right, a centuries-old relic of Hungary's first king smuggled across the continent to escape invading armies. It traces monks fleeing the 1526 defeat at Mohacs, a long disappearance in an Adriatic monastery, and an empress who arranged the relic's return home generations later. The basilica's own first dome collapsed mid-construction in 1868, built from stone too weak to hold.