The institution, also known as the Bibliotheca, is one of the oldest and richest ecclesiastical libraries in Hungary. One of the most important Hungarian linguistic records is preserved here, as well as the world's heaviest ornamented codex is on display: the two volumes weigh more than 110 kilograms.
The origins of the library's collection date back to the time of St. Stephen, and although much of its medieval items have been destroyed or dispersed over the centuries, the volumes that remain illustrate the value and importance of the collection.
In addition to books, the collection of nearly 250,000 items includes numerous engravings, manuscripts and periodicals from all fields of ecclesiastical and secular studies. Among the items in the medieval codex collection, there is the largest and heaviest, richly decorated liturgical ornamental codex in the world: the Bakócz Gradual. The Jordánszky Codex, which contains one of the most complete medieval Hungarian translations of the Bible, and is one of the most important Hungarian linguistic record from the early 1500s, as well as the Szalkai Codex, which is the student textbook of the Archbishop of Esztergom who died a heroic death in the Battle of Mohács, are also preserved here.
The library has several special collections: in the famous Fugger Collection there are thousands of antiquities bound in white parchment, while in the Batthyány Collection you can find the descriptions of counties in the Kingdom of Hungary by historian and geographer Mátyás Bél, as well as several documents not available elsewhere. The famous library of King Matthias is represented by an ancient printed book, the so-called Lövöld Corvina, and the oldest printed book of the country (1459) can also be found here.
At the southern end of Esztergom's region called Víziváros, at the corner of Pázmány Péter street and Liszt Ferenc street, the Library's museum space display the collection’s treasures at permanent and temporary exhibitions. Inside the building designed by József Hild, the beautiful wall-mounted sculptures in the staircase alone will amaze visitors.
Did you know? The rooms of the library in Esztergom, which preserve a significant number of codices, can also be visited if you click on this page.
