The cross at the top of Hungary’s largest church, the magnificent Esztergom Cathedral, hid a 176-year-old time capsule, which was only recovered during renovation work this year.
The sealed copper box was inside the cross on the 100-meter dome, the tallest in Hungary, which survived being bombed during World War II.
The container was also severely damaged by shrapnel, but when they opened it, historians discovered documents in almost perfect condition regarding the construction of the cathedral.
Csaba Torok, director of the Cathedral Treasury, said the papers gave a brief look at the time the church was built in 1822.
The cylindrical capsule was placed on the cross in 1845 by Archbishop Jozsef Kopacsy and Chief Architect Jozsef Hild, who took over after his predecessor was killed.
“Archbishop Kopacsy knew that he would not be able to complete the construction during his lifetime, so when the cross was finished, he wanted to leave an imprint on the memory of the builders and that era,” Torok said.
The best moment was when they found the documents: one depicting landmarks in construction and a book containing the names of clerics and parishes.
“They were last touched by human hands when they were placed there 176 years ago, so somehow I felt a sudden connection in time,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we did not find any coins from the period in the capsule, so there was nothing to help pay for the renovation,” he added with a smile.
The Catholic Cathedral was built on Castle Hill, where a church was first founded over 1,000 years ago. Its iron dome was built in Vienna and transported in sections on the Danube on barges.
For his consecration in 1856, the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt composed a table. But the cathedral was not yet finished, with the main portico and interior completed only later in the nineteenth century.
A new time capsule could be placed on the cross for future generations. But its copper cap will be sealed on June 30, so it will have to move quickly, Torok said.
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