St. Michael's Cathedral, Veszprém


St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica, also called Veszprém Cathedral, is a religious building of the Catholic Church that serves as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Veszprém and is located in the city of Veszprém, Hungary.
Archaeological findings indicate that already in the year 1001 there was a church on the site. This church is mentioned in documents stored in the Abbey of Pannonhalma. In 1380, after a fire, the cathedral was rebuilt in the Gothic style and dedicated in 1400. To this period belong parts of the still existing crypt. The building was partially destroyed later during the Turkish occupation. In the eighteenth century the church was restored in the Romanesque and Gothic styles, the surviving baroque elements were eliminated in the restoration of 1907-1910. Between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the cathedral hosted musical events such as concerts of works by famous European composers such as Mozart, Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven. In 1981 the cathedral was elevated by Pope John Paul II to the rank of minor basilica. In 1993 it became the metropolitan cathedral and received from the monastery of Niedernburg the relics of Queen Gisela of Hungary, wife of Stephen I, venerated as blessed by the Catholic church and considered one of the important personalities for the church in that country.