Jancsar Hotel

The Orb

by croisbeauty

The Orb, designed by Bela Ohmann, stands on the Main Square in front of the Town Hall. The inscription on the globesymbolising the historical past andsignificance of the city. "Fehervar was donated the right of the liberties by St. Stephen".

Here you can find a little...

by kiki2000

Here you can find a little English-Hungarian Dictionary with the most important and useful words:

Thank you=Köszönöm,
Good Afternoon=Jó napot,
Hi=Szia or Hello,
Goodbye=Viszontlátásra (God save the travellers from pronouncing it...) or Viszlát (it's a little bit easier, isn't it?),
Street=utca,
Railway station=vasútállomás,
Bus station=autóbusz állomás,
Restaurant=étterem,
Post office=posta,
right=jobbra,
left=balra,
straight away=egyenesen
(I'll add others if more comes into my mind)

Ruins' Garden

by kiki2000

It was King St. Stephen who built up the cathedral, founded the illustrious capitular school where the fundamental acquirements were taught on a level up to the European standard. King Stephen's basilica was one of the monumental buildings of its time in Europe; it was quite a technical miracle. The basilica was the most significant place of the medieval Hungarian State throughout five centuries. There, in the cathedral stood the throne, was kept the crown, the symbols of the royal power and the country's treasury. This great architectural masterpiece was destroyed by the Turks in the 16th century (it was used as a gunpowder house!!!).But you can see the ruins of this magnificent building even today in the Ruins' Gardens.

6 Months In Szekesfehervar

by Mitre

"Szekesfehervar"

After my intial period staying in a Panzio in Veszprem, I eventually moved on to an apartment in the bigger town of Szekesfehervar. Initially I had problems in the pronunciation of the place (say-kesh-fe-herr-var) but got the hang of it after a while.

Fehervar is a town of around 100000 people and is an industrial centre. Driving into it from any direction you are greeted with concrete tower blocks. But the city is not all grey and industrial at all. In fact the centre (Belvaros) is very nice. The main street (Fo Utca) is a cobble pedestrian zone and has some shops, cafes and restaurants. Around this area there is the large St.Stephens church which dominates the skyline. Further up there is the town hall & pretty town square where in the summer they hold open air concerts. There are also some ancient ruins here where are fenced off and you can view from the pavement.

There was certainly more people around in Fehervar than Veszprem and it had more shops and Western places like Pizza Hut and McDonalds. Despite this I still prefered Veszprem as it was more medieval looking. Fehervar is generally newer (apparently it suffered badly during the war) and a lot more spread out.

Due to its close proximity to Budapest, I was not out socially much here. Its a nice enough town but I would not go out of my way to visit. A half day maximum and you should be able to cover all the sights. Lake Valence is also close by and is worth a visit but it is no where near as nice as Balaton.

Alba Regia

by Bjorgvin

Székesfehérvár (Ger. Stuhlweissenburg) in Fejér County lies 76km southwest of Budapest on the northeastern fringe of the Bakony Mountains. There was a Celtic village on the site and later a Roman settlement, Herculea. In the 10th century the town became the royal capital of the Hungarian kingdom of king Stephen (István) I, and it remained the crowning and burial place of Hungarian kings until the 16th century (1527). It was then known as Alba Regia (or Alba Regalis), i.e. Royal White Castle (=Székesfehérvár). Between 1543 and 1688 the Turks occupied the town, and when they left, after looting and destroying the cathedral and palace, Székesfehérvár was depopulated for a while. In the 18th century the town was once again revived and from that period are the fine Baroque buildings in the centre.