EFTRE Conference 2025
Visits

Visits at choice

Details about the Visits

Visit 1. Places of worship in Budapest

Saturday 13:30–…

On this visit, we will explore significant religious sites in the heart of Budapest, and learn about the main events of Hungarian church history.
We will visit Gellért Hill, the memorial site of the first Hungarian martyr, and the mystical atmosphere of the cave church, while talking about how Hungary took on Christianity. The tour will also include the most important Catholic church in Hungary, St Stephen’s Basilica, where the relic of the founder of the country is kept. We also visit the two great Protestant churches, the Lutheran church on Deák Square and the Reformed church on Kálvin Square, and learn about the religious struggles of the Reformation era and the centuries that followed.
As it is a Saturday, we can take a look only from the outside at the Dohány Street Synagogue, the second largest synagogue in the world, and its adjoining cemetery, while discussing the religious situation of the 20th century.
The walk will be about 3km, which will be done either on foot or by public transport, depending on the group’s choice. Also, the programme will be flexible to the group’s preferences.

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Visit 2. Ottoman Turkish heritage: the tomb of Gül Baba

led by Katalin Balogné Vincze

Saturday 13:30–…

The Ottoman Empire ruled over large parts of the Kingdom of Hungary between 1541 and 1699 and is often referred to as “the Turkish subjugation”. Several archaeological sites in present day Budapest give insights into this period in the country’s history, most notably the Tomb of Gül Baba, close to the famous Margaret Bridge. Gül Baba, a member of a Muslim Dervish Order, was killed during the conquest of Buda, and was proclaimed as the city’s Islamic patron saint. Over the years, his tomb, completed in the late 1540s, became an important place of pilgrimage, but following the Ottoman defeat by the Habsburg Empire it was converted by the Jesuits into a Catholic chapel. Since the early 20th century it has been regarded as a Hungarian national monument and has been restored progressively over the years since then, displaying many ornate religious objects and Turkish rugs. Visitors must remove their shoes because it remains an important pilgrimage venue, especially for Turkish Muslims.
Other important Ottoman sites in Budapest include Veli Bej, a Turkish bath, and Király Bath, close to an old mosque.

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Visit 3. House of Terror

led by Tuomas Anttila

Saturday 13:30–…

Budapest’s House of Terror (Terror Háza) Museum, which opened in 2002, covers deeply disturbing periods of Hungary’s recent history in the 20th century, but it is also a celebration of freedom!

Hungary had been an ally of the Axis powers in the Second World War but had attempted to negotiate with the USA and the UK, and then with the USSR.  As a result, in March 1944, Nazi German forces occupied the country, and a fascist government was established.  From this point around half a million Jews and almost 30,000 Roma were deported to Auschwitz.  Following the defeat of Germany and its Allies in 1945, Hungary became a Soviet satellite state with a one-party communist government, and despite an attempted but crushed uprising in 1956, remained so until the collapse of Soviet influence following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

These events, and the oppression and fears associated with them, are remembered in the House of Terror, which also serves as a memorial to the many victims of these regimes.

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