The Treasury of Esztergom Cathedral [antikvár]

Ecclesiastical treasuries originally consisted of collections of valuable objects: chalices, crosses, monstrances, reliquaries, chasubles, etc. which were used for divine services. The treasuries of cathedrals, being under the rule of a bishop, archbishop or the primate himself, have always contained objects of outstanding artistic and intrinsic value. They were stored in individually locked small, secure strong-rooms, and were used only on major occasions. The cathedral in Esztergom is the metropolitan church of the Primate of Hungary. Although only a fraction of its treasures have survived, it is still the richest ecclesiastical repository in the country. The originál collection, especially the objects dating from the Middle Ages, was greatly depleted by repeated sackings, attempts to save them from Napoleon, and compulsory confiscation in time of war. The treasures of the Cathedral's Treasury have had to be removed to different places thirteen times, which has been particularly detrimental to the religious vestments. The idea of presenting the religious material in the form of a museum matured at the end of the nineteenth century. The Treasury was developed and made accessible to the public by Prince Primate János Simor (11891), the great builder and founder of museums, in 1886. He was impelled in this endeavour above all by aesthetic and scholarly considerations, but his desire to