MAGYAR POSTA ISSUES A STAMP ABOUT ESZTERGOM BASILICA

Magyar Posta is issuing a special stamp in honour of the renovated Esztergom Basilica on the occasion of the celebration of the founding of the state. The building of Esztergom Basilica appears on the stamp and the special first day cover, while the postmark shows a stylised drawing of a bird’s-eye view of the dome.

23 August 2023

From 1939 to the present day, Esztergom Basilica, which is important in terms of both architecture and ideology, has been commemorated on postage stamps by Magyar Posta on several occasions, and in 2023 the renovation of the building is the occasion to honour the cathedral.

Fifty thousand copies of the new stamp issue designed by the graphic artist Ferenc Szabó were produced by ANY Security Printing Company. The main motif of the stamp and the special first day cover is the Basilica of Esztergom, which has been declared a National Monument, located on the top of the city’s Castle Hill. The design of the stamp features the monumental building, 100 metres high from the undercroft to the sphere of the dome, with its characteristic eight huge columns leading into the vestibule and the copper-coloured dome, designed by József Hild and built with an iron structure that was a novelty in Hungary at the time.

On the special first day cover, the Basilica stands at the end of a long road leading to the main entrance, on the top of Esztergom’s Castle Hill, rising above dense forests. The imprint of the postmark on the first day cover shows a stylised drawing of a bird’s-eye view of the dome.

The new issue will be available at first day post offices and Filaposta in Hungary from 18 August 2023, but may also be ordered from Magyar Posta’s online store.

Magyar Posta Zrt.